First, I want to address a few questions about measurement that are key to our investigation on why measurement is so important. Why do we need these measurements? What do these measurements tell us? What important information are we obtaining? The reason behind the measurement is something that we need to think about before we start measuring so that students understand that what they are doing has a specific relevant purpose and is used as a way of communication. The specifics of what we are measuring differ from problem to problem but all in all the question is always, "how much?". We are obtaining information about how much and able to communicate that measurement all because of units.
We, as college students, have been exploring these questions during our class sessions. One activity that I thought guided me along in my own thinking about measurement was one where we had to measure our own stride and use that stride as a unit of measure to measure the hallway. My group thought the best way to go about this was to take 10 consecutive steps as normally as possible and measure from toe to toe. After measuring, in centimeters, the length of my combined steps we would divide that number by 10 to give us our individual strides. We measured the hallway in number of strides, individually, and then multiplied that by our stride in centimeters to get a standard measure of unit measurement.
We then gathered the classes’ data all together and saw a lot of variability in our data. We then struggled with the question of whether one unit of measure was more precise or accurate than the other, between the steps and centimeters. We, having been taught this, assumed centimeters were obviously the more accurate and precise choice at first. After collaboration and communication, we came to the conclusion that it mattered what we were measuring in order to see what unit to use. One unit is not necessarily better than the other; it depends on the task at hand. Although everyone had a different stride that was not what was accountable for our variability. We did not all agree upon a starting and stopping point for the hallway, as well as other students disrupting our strides in order to obey "hallway traffic laws". Measurement is a tricky topic because of the amount of error that can appear. It depends on who is measuring it, how they measure it, where they measure it from, and what units of measure they are using. By exploring without a standard unit of measure it allowed us to think outside of the box and truly appreciate standard units for communication as well as simplicity reasons of being able to use a ruler. By doing this type of inquiry with students you allow them to come up with that realization on their own and appreciate when they are given a standard measurement tool to better communicate with their peers as well as the rest of the world. In my classroom I intend on letting my students search for their own reasoning to better understand the importance of measurement and what it does for us in our every day lives. And with that key idea, my students will feel comfortable communicating with mathematics and measurement.