Last week we started learning about different forms of measurement in class. We started out by going out to the basketball court to measure its width. To do this, some of walked across the court in big steps, counting how many of these it took to until they reached the other side. We found out that the basketball court is about 18 'Mr.Hewes steps' wide, 21 'Yash steps' wide, and 22 'Asma steps wide'. There are some photos of us measuring the width of the basketball court below. It was fun.
Following this we had a class discussion about the difference between about how taking measurements in this way is probably not as reliable as we would like it to be, and how it would be better to use something more reliable. We discussed the difference between something that is uniform and something that isn't. We then estimated and measured a range of different things in class using uniform blocks and learned that if two different people measured the same thing with these uniform units, they would both arrive at the same answer. We looked at the metre rulers in class and discussed what a centimetre is and how many of these fit into a metre, noting that both of these uniform (and formal) units of measurement. Tomorrow we're going to find a trundle wheel and measure the width of the basketball court again with this to see if we all get the same answer. We are going to be experts at measuring things! :-)