They find that the bookcase is actually closer to 66 units long. They decide that they can get a better estimate of length when they use smaller units. Students use pattern blocks to cover a picture of a turtle. They make a bar graph that shows how many blocks each student used. They discuss why some students used more blocks than others and what they could do to increase or decrease the number of blocks used.
Students play with containers of various sizes, transferring water from one container to another.
They note that it takes two cups of water to fill a small milk carton. A pitcher holds three milk cartons of water, but four milk cartons overflow the pitcher. Then they find that it takes seven cups to fill the pitcher even though three milk cartons is only six cups. They decide that the smaller container gives a better idea of how much the pitcher will hold. Students find the area of huge dinosaur footprints that they find taped to the classroom floor.