Unit 6- How Far Can You Jump?

Students will be measuring lengths and distances and solving measurement story problems. We will work with a variety of measurement units, including nonstandard ones like shoe-lengths, craft sticks, paper clips, and cubes, as well as standard ones, like inches, feet, yards, centimeters, and meters. 

Activities to Try at Home 

Measuring with Your Foot Length Use the shoe-length of different members of your family to measure the same distance in heel-to-toe steps and ask your child the following questions: “How many parent feet is it from the door to the table? How many little brother feet measure the same distance?” You can also compare the lengths of the same count of different-sized feet. For example, each person does 10 heel-to-toe steps. “How far is 10 parent steps? How far is 10 second-grader steps?” 

Practice Measuring with a Ruler Look closely at a ruler with your child. Notice the numbers and talk about what they represent. Use the ruler to first measure different objects around the house that are less than 12 inches. Then measure distances and objects that are greater than 12 inches. Compare measurements of the same object in centimeters and inches. 

Body Benchmarks Use a ruler to find benchmarks on your child’s body for one inch, one foot, and one centimeter. For example, the width of your child’s thumb is a good benchmark for one centimeter. Experiment with using the benchmarks to measure. Measure an object with a body benchmark and then with a ruler. How close is the estimate made with a body benchmark to the measurement made with a ruler? 

Comparing Jumps This is a good activity for outdoors. Use chalk to mark a starting point and then measure how far different people jump. Talk about how to measure the jumps and compare the lengths. You might ask, “How much longer is this jump than that one?” or “How much farther would this person need to jump to go the same distance as that one?”