Two Truths and a Lie
10 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit ideas about animals and their associated measurements, which will be useful when students create comparison statements in a later activity. While students may notice and wonder many things about these images, what the measurements represent and how they can be compared are the important discussion points.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the images.
- “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?
30 feet
130 inches
3 feet
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- There are three animals: a rabbit, a frog, and a dolphin.
- There are numbers and units with each image.
- The numbers are related to measurements.
- All the animals jump.
Students may wonder:
- What do the numbers mean?
- Why are some numbers in inches and others in feet?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “The numbers tell us how far each animal can jump.”
- Ask students to decide if each of the following statements is true or false and to share their responses and their reasoning:
- “A rabbit can jump 10 times as far as a dolphin.” (That's false because a dolphin can jump nearly 10 times as far as a rabbit.)
- “A dolphin can jump as far as a frog.” (That's false because a dolphin can jump farther than a frog.)
- “What other comparison statements can you make about how far these animals can jump?” (A dolphin can jump 10 times as far as a rabbit. A frog can jump almost 4 times as far as a rabbit.)
- “We are going to keep thinking about making comparisons in our first activity today.”
Standards
Addressing
- 4.MD.1·Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two column table. <em>For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), …</em>
- 4.MD.A.1·Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. <span>For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs <span class="math">\((1, 12)\)</span>, <span class="math">\((2, 24)\)</span>, <span class="math">\((3, 36)\)</span>, …</span>
- 4.OA.2·Multiply or divide to solve word problems involving multiplicative comparison, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem, distinguishing multiplicative comparison from additive comparison.
- 4.OA.A.2·Multiply or divide to solve word problems involving multiplicative comparison, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem, distinguishing multiplicative comparison from additive comparison.<span>See Glossary, Table 2.</span>
20 min
20 min
Knowledge Components
All skills for this lesson
No KCs tagged for this lesson
Two Truths and a Lie
10 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit ideas about animals and their associated measurements, which will be useful when students create comparison statements in a later activity. While students may notice and wonder many things about these images, what the measurements represent and how they can be compared are the important discussion points.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the images.
- “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?
30 feet
130 inches
3 feet
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- There are three animals: a rabbit, a frog, and a dolphin.
- There are numbers and units with each image.
- The numbers are related to measurements.
- All the animals jump.
Students may wonder:
- What do the numbers mean?
- Why are some numbers in inches and others in feet?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “The numbers tell us how far each animal can jump.”
- Ask students to decide if each of the following statements is true or false and to share their responses and their reasoning:
- “A rabbit can jump 10 times as far as a dolphin.” (That's false because a dolphin can jump nearly 10 times as far as a rabbit.)
- “A dolphin can jump as far as a frog.” (That's false because a dolphin can jump farther than a frog.)
- “What other comparison statements can you make about how far these animals can jump?” (A dolphin can jump 10 times as far as a rabbit. A frog can jump almost 4 times as far as a rabbit.)
- “We are going to keep thinking about making comparisons in our first activity today.”
Standards
Addressing
- 4.MD.1·Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two column table. <em>For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), …</em>
- 4.MD.A.1·Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. <span>For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs <span class="math">\((1, 12)\)</span>, <span class="math">\((2, 24)\)</span>, <span class="math">\((3, 36)\)</span>, …</span>
- 4.OA.2·Multiply or divide to solve word problems involving multiplicative comparison, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem, distinguishing multiplicative comparison from additive comparison.
- 4.OA.A.2·Multiply or divide to solve word problems involving multiplicative comparison, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem, distinguishing multiplicative comparison from additive comparison.<span>See Glossary, Table 2.</span>