Constructing scale drawings and scale models or relating biological growth and form provide excellent opportunities for students to use proportions to solve problems, as does using a variety of measuring tools to find the measures of inaccessible objects. Such personal experiences help students recognize and appreciate the use of measurement concepts in other real-world settings. The cumulative progress indicators for grade 8 appear below in boldface type. Each indicator is followed by activities which illustrate how it can be addressed in the classroom in grades 7 and 8. Use estimated and actual measurements to describe and compare phenomena.
Students estimate the number of square centimeters in a trapezoid.
Then they use a transparent grid and count squares to find the area. They compare that result to the area of a rectangle whose base is the average of the two bases of the trapezoid and whose height is the same as that of the trapezoid. They look for a pattern in their results and compare their results to their estimates. Students build a bridge out of paper to connect two bricks and place weights on the bridge until it breaks, noting how much weight it held. Students read and discuss sections of This Book Is About Time by Marilyn Burns.