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Level One > Geometry and Measurement

Worms and more

Keywords:
Achievement Objectives:

Achievement Objective: Order and compare objects or events by length, area, volume and capacity, weight (mass), turn (angle), temperature, and time by direct comparison and/or counting whole numbers of units.

Purpose: 

This unit comprises 5 stations, which involve the students developing an awareness of the attributes of length and areas. The focus is on the development of measuring language for length and area. The stations may be taken as whole class activities or they may be set up as "centres" for the students to use. We expect that many students will already be aware of the attributes of length and area. For them these may be useful maintenance activities.

Specific Learning Outcomes: 
  • compare lengths from the same starting point
  • use materials to make a long or short construction
  • use materials to compare large and small areas
Description of mathematics: 

Early length experiences must develop an awareness of what length is, and develop a vocabulary for discussing length. Young students usually begin by describing the size of objects as big and small. They gradually learn to discriminate in what way an object is big or small and use more specific terms. The use of words such as long, short, wide, close, near, far, deep, shallow, high, low and close, focus attention on the attribute of length. Early area experiences develop an awareness of what area is, and of the range of words that can be used to discuss it. Awareness of area as the "amount of surface" can be developed by "covering" activities such as wrapping parcels, colouring in, and covering tables with paper. The use of words such as greater, larger and smaller, focus attention on the attribute of area.

Required Resource Materials: 
Station 1: Play dough (or plasticene), picture of worm to interest the students.
Station 2: Blocks, blank cards, toy cars
Station 4: Heart wrapping paper, crayons
Station 5: Footprints(Big Foot, Small Foot), large sheets of paper, crayons
Activity: 

Station 1: Worms

In this activity we roll play dough to make long and short worms.

  1. Give each student a ball of play dough and ask them to make a worm.
  2. Get the students to bring their worms to the mat.
  3. Ask the students to describe their worm.
    My worm is long
    My worm is fat
    My worm is tiny
  4. Now ask the students to make a worm that is short.
  5. Look at and discuss the short worms.
    How do you know that your worm is short?
    Is your worm the same as everyone elses? Why?
  6. Ask the students to think of other worms that could be made. (long, wiggly, thin)
  7. Choose a word and ask everyone to make a worm one that fits the description.
  8. Repeat with other descriptive words and create a word bank that is displayed with illustrations. 
  9. Conclude by asking the students to draw their favourite worm and write a descriptive word for it.

Station Two: Near and Far

In this activity we build a town with blocks and then "drive" our cars around it.

  1. Begin by discussing the buildings that you might find in a town. Write the ideas on blank cards. (One for each student or pair of students).
  2. Give a card to each student, or pair of students and ask them to build the building out of blocks.
  3. Put the buildings together onto the mat (or large sheet of paper with roads drawn) and the building cards into a container.
  4. Give two students a car to "drive" around the town.
  5. Tell the students to stop their cars after a short time.
  6. Draw a card from the container. Ask the students to identify which car is closest to the building drawn.
  7. Give the cars to another two drivers and repeat.
  8. Use different words, for example: furthest, nearest, far away, nearby.
  9. Repeat with other descriptive words and add to the word bank that is displayed with illustrations.

Station Three: Shaping Ourselves

In this activity we make ourselves tall, short, wide, narrow, close and far.

  1. Tell the students that we are going to play a game of sizes.
  2. Ask the students to make themselves:

    As tall as they can
    As short as they can
    As wide as they can
    As close to a table as they can be
    As far from the door as they can be
    Take up loads of space covering the mat (lie down)

  3. You could extend the activity by asking for volunteers to give instructions for "body sizes".
  4. You could also link to geometry by asking the students to form different shapes with their bodies, for example, circles, triangles. The students could describe the size of their shape.
  5. Repeat with other descriptive words and add to the word bank that is displayed with illustrations.

Station Four: Wrapping Paper

In this activity we look follow directions and colour-in large and small objects on our "wrapping" paper copymaster. We then find an object to wrap in our paper.

  1. Give each student a sheet of hearts wrapping paper.
  2. Look at and discuss the hearts on the paper.
  3. Ask the students to colour-in the small hearts.
    How did you decide which were small?
  4. Now ask them to colour in the large hearts.
    How did you decide which were large?
    Which took the longest to colour? Why?
    Which were the quickest to colour? Why?
  5. Ask the students to find something to wrap in their paper.
  6. Bring the objects and wrapping paper to the mat.
  7. Check to see if the objects will fit in the paper.
    Whose didn’t?
    Why not?

Station Five: Muddy footprints

In this activity we look at some footprints and decide who they could belong to. In our discussion we focus on the use of language associated with area.

  1. Show the students the "bear" footprint.
    Who could this belong to?
    Why do you think that?
    Is your foot as big as the bear's? How do you know? How could you check?
  2. Let the students place their feet on top of the bear print.
  3. Ask students to create different "prints, for example: a mouse, a dog, an albatross, a gecko, or find images of different prints online. Support the use of compartitive words in their descriptions.
  4. Ask the students to draw a giant’s footprint.
  5. Share and discuss giant footprints in comparison to their own.
  6. Record the words used to compare the prints, collect the descriptive words andadd to the word bank that is displayed with illustrations.
Home Link: 

 

Dear Family and Whanau,

This week we have been exploring activities which develop an awareness of length and area. We have been using words like: long, short, tall, big and small to describe objects.

Longs and Shorts

This week we ask your child to look around at home and find objects that are short. Choose 4 objects and draw a picture of them. Once they have a collection of "shorts" you could ask them to find 4 objects that are long and draw a picture of those.

AttachmentSize
WormsAndMore-Hearts.pdf50.1 KB
WormsAndMoreFootprint.pdf762.61 KB

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