Measuring using non-standard units

This week we have been exploring the concept of measurement in Mathematics. At the beginning of the measurement learning we start to learn the vocabulary associated with measuring things. Using toys from our classroom, we explored which were big, bigger and biggest, long, longer and longest and so on. Learning the key words helps us to think and talk about the concept of measurement and size. 

Organising these foods from biggest to smallest on the washing line helps us to compare objects and notice their relative sizes. It also gives us a great opportunity to practice the mathematical language that we need to talk about size.

Here is a different activity to encourage our students to notice and estimate the relative sizes of objects: make a worm that is BIGGER and a worm that is SMALLER than the worm on the play dough mat. How do we make sure our worms are the right size, especially when they are wiggly?

We also took this learning into our Writing this week.

The next step in our learning has been to begin measuring objects. Eventually, our students will learn how to use standard units of measurement like centimetres and metres. But their first experiences of measuring are with non-standard units like cubes, glue sticks and matchsticks. 

  

Using non-standard units allows our students to practice the key skills of measuring and develop an understanding of how measuring works without having to grapple with the precision of standard units. When measuring our toys, we made sure that we followed the rules of measuring: start at the beginning of the object, use multiples of the exactly the same thing to measure with, units should touch (no gaps), stop placing units at the end of the object.