Pioneer Measurement

Objective:

Students will experiment with measurement and compare the standard way of measuring today with the way that the pioneers conducted measurement.

Length of Lesson: 1 Hour

GCO: Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the past and how it affects the present and the future.

SCOs:  Demonstrate an understanding of the concepts and vocabulary associated with time, continuity and change

            Identify, evaluate and use appropriate primary and secondary sources to learn and communicate about the past

            Research and describe historical events and ideas from different perspectives

            Apply historical methodology to interpret and understand time, continuity and change at an age appropriate level

Cross Curricular Links: Math

Materials:

• Measurement Worksheet
• String
• One yard of cloth
• Pencil
• Towels

Procedure:

• The teacher will ask the class how students would measure things if they did not have a metre stick or a ruler?
• The teacher will then explain that a pioneer household had few measuring devices, often only a crude two-foot marker scratched onto an axe-handle. For rough measurements, body parts came in handy.
• The teacher will show the class how pioneers measured their kindling by making sure the wood was no thicker than their thumb
• The teacher will ask students if they have ever heard about a horse being measured in hands? Teacher will explain that it is still common today to hear of a horse being referred to as 15 hands high, etc.
• The students will be asked to measure their leg using the hand measurement tool.
• The teacher will then show students how a cloth merchant measured a yard of cloth by holding the fabric from his nose to the thumb of his outstretched arm.
• The teacher will explain to students that another way to measure things in pioneer times involved knowing your own height, which you could compare and make estimations about other objects.
• The students will be asked hold their arms and hands straight out to the sides
• Their partner will cut a piece of string that stretches from the fingertips of the right hand to the fingertips of the left hand
• The partner will put one end if the string on the floor. The students will be asked if the other end of the string reaches the top of their heads?
• The students will be asked to try the same experiment on their partners and come up with a conclusion about how to measure height in pioneer times.
• The teacher will ask the students if most people are as tall as their arm spans and how this method could help them measure.
• The students will be asked to complete a worksheet on pioneer measurement

Evaluation:

The teacher can evaluate the students by correcting the worksheet and watching students as they undertake the measuring tasks.

Pioneer Measuring

1.       To measure a horse the pioneers used a hand over hand method.  Refer to the teacher’s demonstration.  Practice on the members of your group.

          ___________________________ is ________ hands tall.

          ___________________________ is ________ hands tall.

          ___________________________ is ________ hands tall.

          ___________________________ is ________ hands tall.

          ___________________________ is ________ hands tall.

2.       Now practice with the towels provided to measure fabric as merchants

          once did.  Was the “cloth yard” always accurate? Why or why not?

          ________________________________________________________

          ________________________________________________________

3.       Are you as tall as your “arm span”? Again, refer to the teacher’s

          demonstration for this question’s directions.  How could this have

          helped the early settlers measure?

          ________________________________________________________

          ________________________________________________________