Fractional Measurements on Line Plots
10 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit the ideas that students have about rulers and measurements of 21, 41, and 81, which will be useful when students measure objects and generate and analyze line plots in a later activity. While students may notice and wonder many things about the images, focus the discussion on how to name the fractional measures in each image and the progression of the different levels of precision.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the image.
- “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 1 minute: partner discussion
- Share and record responses.
Student Task
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- There are four different rulers.
- Each ruler has more marks.
- Some marks have no numbers beside them.
Students may wonder:
- What do the marks represent?
- Is the crayon getting shorter?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “Why does the crayon measurement change each time?” (The crayon is not changing. The measurements on the ruler are becoming more precise. We’re using smaller and smaller pieces to measure the crayon.)
- “What do you think the tick marks on each ruler represent?” (They represent inches, halves, fourths, and eighths of an inch.)
- “What are some things that you would measure with the first ruler? What about things you would measure with the last ruler? Why might that be?” (I would use the first ruler if the measurement doesn’t need to be exact and the last ruler if it needs to be pretty exact. I would use the first ruler to measure bigger things and the last ruler to measure smaller things.)
Standards
Building On
- 3.MD.4·Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units— whole numbers, halves, or quarters.
- 3.MD.B.4·Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units–-whole numbers, halves, or quarters.
Building Toward
- 4.MD.4·Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions by using information presented in line plots. <em>For example, from a line plot find and interpret the difference in length between the longest and shortest specimens in an insect collection.</em>
- 4.MD.B.4·Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit <span class="math">\((1/2, 1/4, 1/8)\)</span>. Solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions by using information presented in line plots. <span>For example, from a line plot find and interpret the difference in length between the longest and shortest specimens in an insect collection.</span>
20 min
15 min
Knowledge Components
All skills for this lesson
No KCs tagged for this lesson
Fractional Measurements on Line Plots
10 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit the ideas that students have about rulers and measurements of 21, 41, and 81, which will be useful when students measure objects and generate and analyze line plots in a later activity. While students may notice and wonder many things about the images, focus the discussion on how to name the fractional measures in each image and the progression of the different levels of precision.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the image.
- “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 1 minute: partner discussion
- Share and record responses.
Student Task
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- There are four different rulers.
- Each ruler has more marks.
- Some marks have no numbers beside them.
Students may wonder:
- What do the marks represent?
- Is the crayon getting shorter?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “Why does the crayon measurement change each time?” (The crayon is not changing. The measurements on the ruler are becoming more precise. We’re using smaller and smaller pieces to measure the crayon.)
- “What do you think the tick marks on each ruler represent?” (They represent inches, halves, fourths, and eighths of an inch.)
- “What are some things that you would measure with the first ruler? What about things you would measure with the last ruler? Why might that be?” (I would use the first ruler if the measurement doesn’t need to be exact and the last ruler if it needs to be pretty exact. I would use the first ruler to measure bigger things and the last ruler to measure smaller things.)
Standards
Building On
- 3.MD.4·Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units— whole numbers, halves, or quarters.
- 3.MD.B.4·Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units–-whole numbers, halves, or quarters.
Building Toward
- 4.MD.4·Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions by using information presented in line plots. <em>For example, from a line plot find and interpret the difference in length between the longest and shortest specimens in an insect collection.</em>
- 4.MD.B.4·Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit <span class="math">\((1/2, 1/4, 1/8)\)</span>. Solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions by using information presented in line plots. <span>For example, from a line plot find and interpret the difference in length between the longest and shortest specimens in an insect collection.</span>