Estimation of school campus building height (40 + 80 mins)

In-class Lesson 1 (40 mins) - Preparation

Teacher states clearly the objective of the group task is to estimate the height of the building. Both the estimation process and final accuracy are important. (5 mins)

Students organize themselves in groups of 3 to 4, either self-organizing or assigned by teacher. (5 mins)

Students discuss with group members to decide on which estimation method they would like to adopt, and why they choose it. Students re-watch the pre-class estimation videos in class if necessary using iPads or tablets. They should also assign the role of each member in the estimation process. Who will be the doing the actual field measure? Who will take the readings and doing calculations? Who will be recording the estimation process? (20 mins)

Student try out the measurement tools (e.g. Clinometer, hand-made or apps, AR measure tools) or teacher demonstrate this directly to students. Teachers should provide analog measure tools and digital tools such that different groups can choose by themselves and compare the strengths and weaknesses between the two. (5 mins)

Each group draft and submit a simple plan to the teacher showing their strategy in estimating the height of the building. (5 mins)

In-class Lesson 2 (80 mins) - Application

Classroom briefing: Teacher remind students crucial points in doing estimation (10 mins)

• Safety measures need to be considered during the actual field work in the school campus. These includes telling students do not rush and run, especially on the stairs. Do not climb over the fence etc.

• Have students work in groups to apply their choice of estimation method to find the building height.

• Instruct students to take photos and videos of their crucial moments of the estimation process. These materials will be useful in making the group's final outcome.

• Have students download the worksheet template in PDF / Keynote, where they can write their findings with an appropriate app, such as an PDF annotator. If Keynote is used, videos can also be inserted.

• Remind students that both the estimation process and the accuracy of the final answer are important.

Field workout: Students collaborate to work out their field measurement (40 mins)

• Students leave the classroom and collaborate with each other to work out their estimation method, with each member fulfilling the pre-assigned role in lesson 1.

• Encourage students to discuss with each other or search solution from the web when encountering any actual problem in working out the field measure.

• Teacher walk among the groups in the field to see if they have problems, challenging students with questions on the method they chose is one way of increasing their awareness on possible pitfall of measurement.

• When teacher sees an obvious problem with a group, do not rush to advise them on the "correct" or "better" way. Just remind them with appropriate questioning.

• When students ask any question in the process, do not give them direct answer, such as which side of the tape measure is in inches, and which side is in cm? Give them appropriate tip through questioning is the best way to teach.

• Tip: Setting up a whiteboard in the field for all the groups to write down their answers is an effective way for each group to rethink whether their findings and calculations are reasonable. If time allows, they are free to redo until they reach a reasonable answer.

Classroom debriefing: Teacher consolidate findings, group presentations (30 mins)

• Teacher should find the "real" building height before this part, probably from the school construction blue print etc.

• Have a representative from randomly chosen group come out and present their workout and solutions to the problems. In the case of an e-Learning classroom, iPads and classroom management tools can be used to show student's work on the projector screen.

• Comment and feedback on student's work, give praise when students demonstrate their understanding or show creative solutions, encourage students if they make mistakes which is part of the learning process.

• Teacher make a summary table consolidating all the group findings and compared with the real answer. The concept of estimation error and percentage error can be directly applied in this aspect.

• Teacher collect the completed electronic worksheets from students.

• Tip: Award can be given to the most accurate group, but this should not be announced until the end. Otherwise, students will over focus on the answer rather than the estimation process, where the majority of the learning fun are there.