He Puna Aranga spent the middle block of the morning outside experimenting with non-standard measurement. The children were given maths equipment to measure a given area outside. The first group were given the straws to measure the path to the drop off bay. The second group measured the blue bench outside the junior classrooms-using small sticks. The third group had popsicle sticks and measured the black seat. The fourth group were given interlocking cubes and measured around the sandpit. The fifth group had a variety of different equipment to measure around the junior playground.
The learning investigation: How many of your equipment does it take to measure how long the sandpit is? or the area they were given.
The children set out problem solving ways to measure these large areas. We saw teamwork happening as the children took turns with the equipment. Some people were given the job as 'fixers' to ensure there were no gaps between each popsicle stick, cubes, straws etc. Predictions were made as the children guessed how long was their area. Big numbers were used to describe how many of each material it took to measure the length or circumference.
Watch the videos below of some children explaining their learning.