Measurement

How Do You Measure Up?

In this activity, students establish their own length measurement standard and apply it in designing an instrument for measuring lengths, such as the width of a tabletop or the height of the classroom ceiling. This is an effective way to introduce students to the English and metric systems of measurement while impressing upon them the need for standardization.

All Numbers Are Not Created Equal

In this activity students measure the thickness of a single sheet of paper from their textbook! By measuring the thickness of large numbers of sheets the students can determine the thickness of a single sheet. Students discuss error and why their measurements may not agree. TI-83+ calculators are used to run simple statistics on the collected data and show any central tendencies.

What About Bob?

In this activity the students are asked to state a hypothesis about which of three variables; amplitude, mass, or length, affect the period of a simple pendulum. A pendulum is constructed so that bobs made of different materials can be oscillated at a set length as one of the partners measures the period with a stopwatch. After the period of the pendulum is determined for each material, the students explore the effect of different lengths of string on the period. Amplitude may be varied in a separate set of trials as well. This activity is excellent for introducing students to the concept of isolating an experimental variable while controlling other variables that may affect the experimental outcome.