Measurement Math

 

I have apparently been neglecting the blog lately.  Who knew?  It’s not for lack of stuff to blog about.  Maybe that’s why….we’ve been too busy and I haven’t taken the time to do it. 

Today, Addie and I completed a fun lesson in math and I thought I would share.  We’ve been learning about measurement the past two weeks.  It was always one of the units I looked forward to teaching in school.  You can practically spend the entire unit doing hands-on activities.  Today, while learning about capacity, Addie and I decided to take our lesson to the kitchen.  We basically used three different sized cups and measured the capacity of each using handfuls of goldfish (non-standard) and then a measuring cup to scoop the goldfish (standard).  We did estimates first and then actual measurements.  Almost all of her estimates were right on or just 1-2 off.  She’s one smart little girl if I do say so myself!

At the end of the lesson, I told her she could eat one cup full of goldfish.  I assumed she would use her little measuring cup we had used to scoop out the goldfish.  Wrong!  She grabs one of the bigger cups and promptly fills it to the top.  When I asked her why she took the bigger cup, her response was “Well, mom…..you see this cups hold more than mine.”  I guess she understood the lesson of capacity today!