We are learning a bunch of new things in Math! It would be great if you could reinforce them at home.
Weighed in a Balance
Scales weigh things for us. There are many kinds of scales though and you will want to try some of them. Postage scales, kitchen scales, fish scales, balance scales, truck scales used by highway authorities.
Can you weigh things without a scale? You can! Use a balance or comparison methods. A balance has a weight of a set size on one side. You place your object into the other side of the balance until you can get the sides to be level. Ancient Egyptians used this method of weighing heavy things.
You can also estimate the weight of things by comparison. Use an item that you know the weight of, such as a sack of sugar. Estimation is how you know the two things compare. Is your object heavier or lighter than the sack of sugar?
Try measuring some things at home and practice your weighing skills! :)
Bathroom scales are found in most homes.
- Weigh yourself on a bathroom scale.
- Weigh your sister or brother on the bath scale.
- Weigh your pet on the bathroom scales.
- Weigh a friend on the scale. Write down all the weights.
- Now try with a digital scale.
Record your info on this activity sheet: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/maths/files/measuringlength.pdf
Read more at Suite101: Teaching Children How To Weigh Things: Learning How to Measure Weight http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-weigh-things-a63124#ixzz1CMDGriAa
Learning to Measure!
Explain in language that children can understand. Relate the math to a real life concept. Use real life samples. Talk about the space in the child's bedroom or the carpet in the playroom.
2 Measure a few things together. Get a ruler or a long tape measure. Find the width of a room. Then find the length. Now multiply the two sides. Explain that area is length times width. When you multiply the two measurements together, you get the area of the room.
3 Tell kids that this is how people determine how much carpet to buy if they want to carpet a room. Make it a bit more challenging by adding cost to the equation. In real life, you need to know the cost of a carpet that covers your room before you buy it.
4 Pretend you are going to paint a wall. You must determine the area of the wall to decide how much paint to buy. Explain that if you can guess, you might buy the wrong amount of paint.
5 Tell children that area is measured in square units. In the United States, area is measure in standard units like inches or feet. In Canada, area is measured in centimeters or meters.
6 Write a list of the basic formulas for area. Explain that base is the bottom of the shape. Height is how high something is from the base. You can write the same formula as Area = length x width.
7 Show children that the formula for squares and rectangles is the same but that you divide the formula by 2 for triangles because two triangles equal one square.
8 Practice what you are teaching. Draw diagrams and ask the child to find the area with a ruler. Draw a house plan and have the child measure the area of the whole house. Then measure one room.
9 Find the area of odd shapes by dividing the shapes into rectangles. Then find the area of each rectangle and add the totals together.
Read more: How to Teach Geometric Area to Kids | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2090533_teach-geometric-area-kids.html#ixzz1CMa3KB8I
