They are essentially the same thing except they are a standard centimeter unit.

This got me thinking about how much easier it would be for children to understand units of measure if we taught and used the Metric System.  It is a Base 10 system which coincides much more closely with the way we teach counting and number.  There are no variances between liquid measures and solid measures in the Metric System (a liter is a liter is a liter, but an ounce is different if it is a fluid ounce or a solid ounce). There are many more reasons why adopting the metric system just makes plain sense, however it probably won’t happen in my lifetime.  This article explains why it won’t happen and why Americans don’t really want it to (or care enough to do anything about it).

Here’s to the Metric System.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O13luYEu6P0

On Friday, Early Math Counts presented at the Opening Minds conference in Chicago.  We spoke about the Early Math Counts site and our upcoming Professional Development series, soon to be available through the Gateways to Opportunity ilearning system.(More to come about that exciting project over the next couple of weeks). At the end of our talk, we presented the attendees with buckets of counting worms and walked through some possible learning activities that could be done with them.  Although the worms we had were a bit different, they reminded me of this post from 2013.

Have you seen these?  These are called Inchworms and they are actually one inch long.  That means they are standard units of measure (because an inch is an inch is an inch) while looking like a non standard unit of measure.  When children use these to measure, they might say, “It is 3 inchworms long,” which also means that it is actually 3 inches long. This is an important step in children’s understandings of measurement, which can be reinforced by laying these inchworms out next to a ruler to show that they really are one inch each.

It might be fun to introduce the “Inchworm Song” as well.  If you don’t know/remember it, it goes like this.

“Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds
You and your arithmetic, you’ll probably go far.
Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds
Seems to me you’d stop and see how beautiful they are.

2 and 2 are 4, 4 and 4 are 8, 8 and 8 are 16, 16 and 16 are 32.”

Since there is little observable growth over a 24 hour period, you may want to choose one day of the week as “Measurement Day”.  That way  the growth will be enough to see.  On Monday, I wrote about the Inchworm manipulatives.  These are the perfect tool to use when measuring the plants. Children can hold one inchworm up next to the stem to see if it is one inch tall.  If the stem is longer, they can add another inchworm until the length of their Inchworm chain  is the same size as their plant height.  They can then count their inchworms and record their findings.  I wouldn’t worry too much about fractions of inches- rounding up to the nearest inch is perfectly OK for preschool-aged children.  You can even use language like, “Your plant is about 3 inches tall,” so that children get the idea that it is not exact.

This is one of those activities that becomes more interesting over time- so be patient.  As the children’s plants grow, so will their interest in measuring them.