Make a Meter

Kids can learn to love the metric system if they have true understanding. This game using base 10 materials and a die gives students benchmarks for centimeter, decimeter, and meter. Since the unit equals a centimeter, 10 centimeters can be traded for a long or a decimeter. Each roll of the die allows you to place one unit cube for each pip. When you have 10 units you trade for a decimeter. The first player to get 100 centimeters, 10 decimeters, or a meter wins.

Measurement Fun!

We don't often get snow in Tennessee so when the forecast called for a chance, we had to get busy.  We read several winter and snow themed books to set the background for our math lessons.  Both of these lessons come from Catherine Kuhns book:  Mathematical Art-O-Facts.  Check out her website for other ideas and activities.  CatherineKuhns.com 

The students created a winter scene given the measurements in centimeters for each object.  This activity gives the students an opportunity to be creative and also practice measuring.  Each object they draw is measured and labeled.

The next activity was to make a snowman following specific directions.  The directions included sizes and also the shapes.  This was great practice and review for measurement and geometry.  The students labeled the shapes and measurements.