March Math Box Homework

We are studying Measurement and Time. When adults think of measurement, we think of rulers, measuring cups, etc. Young children first deal in comparisons. They measure with nonstandard measurements like hands and pencils, and move onto standard units of measurement of length, area, volume, weight, time and temperature. They need lots of hands-on experiences with measurement to understand. In first grade, we learn o’clock.

1. Next time your parents take you to the grocery store, go to the produce section and find a scale. Estimate how much a head of lettuce (or something else) might weigh to the nearest pound. Then weigh it to check your estimate. Now try a few other items in the scale. (Be sure to be polite if someone else needs to use the scale).

2. Pick out 10 cans, bottles or boxes of food at home. Have your parents help you read how much each one weighs. Talk about pounds, ounces, liters, etc. (I usually compare things to a lb. of butter).

3. Use several different sized cups or bottles. Line them up according to how much water you think they will hold. (least to most) Fill up the smallest bottle. Pour it into the next smallest, and then add some more to make it full. Keep up the smallest bottle. Pour it into the next smallest, and then add some more to make it full. Keep up the process to see if you estimated in the right order. (If one overflows, it is in the wrong order). Do this activity over a sink or outside, if it’s warm enough.

4. Estimate the circumference of a tree trunk in your yard or neighborhood. First, use a string or yarn for your estimate and cut it how long you think it should be. With someone’s help, measure the tree trunk with your cut string. Was it too long, too short, or just right?

5. Use yourself as a balance scale. Look at two items in the house like a can of soup and a box of cereal. Estimate which is heavier before you pick them up. Put your arms straight out to the side with palms up. Someone put the items on your hands. (Make sure they are not too heavy). Which feels heaviest? Try some other items. Your parents can check by looking at the printed weight.

6. Roll the CLAY into several snakes of different lengths. Order them from shortest to longest.

7. Use a pencil to measure things in your house. Estimate each time before you measure. Make a graph of how many pencils lengths the various items were.

8. Make a 6-block pattern train with shapes made out of CLAY on the table. How many TOOTHPICKS long is it? Measure with toothpicks.

9. Estimate how many giant steps it will take to go from your driveway to the driveway 4 houses away. Then do it. Did you estimate fewer of more steps?

10. Have someone help you write the names of your favorite TV shows. Draw a clock by each name and put the hands to show what time it starts. Also write on which day of the week it comes.

11. Illustrate a clock book. Draw a picture of you getting up on one page and draw a clock to show what time you usually get up (To the closest half hour). Make several pages of you during the day with clocks showing the time. Bring it to show and tell. (This could take several sessions).

12. When you notice the big minute hand straight up or straight down, mention to your family what time it is. Also, read a digital clock at the same time to check yourself.
13.Draw four clocks on four pieces of paper. Make the long minute hand on each clock touch the edge of the clock by the 12. Your mom or dad will draw the short hour hand on all four clocks. You tell him or her what time the clock says.

14. Your mom or dad will use an unplugged clock to move the clock hands to say the time to the half hour. You tell him or her what the clock says. Remember that the hour hand will be between two numbers.

15. Your parents will set a clock to the nearest hour to dinner. (5:00 or 6:00) They will ask you questions like: What time will dinner be over if we eat for one hour? What time is bedtime if you go to bed in three hours? How many hours from dinner to breakfast?

16. Make a Week Diary by using 7 sheets of paper and staple them together. Write they day of the week on the top of each page. Each day, write the best thing that happened to you that day.

17. Record plant growth. Plant 3 dry beans in a pot of soil. Put it in a sunny spot and give it some water. Write down the day the beans were planted. Then keep record of it’s growth by writing the date every day until the first plant pops through the soil. How many days did it take? You could measure it’s growth with the RULER every day from then on.

18. Collect 10 things that vary in length and put them in a bag. Teach into the bag and take out two objects. Say which one is longer and which is shorter. When they are all out, line them up from shortest to longest.

19. Trace your hand on a paper and trace your mom or dad’s hand too. Cut them both out. Measure the length of your kitchen table using first your mom or dad’s paper hand and then your paper hand. Explain why they might not be the same. (It’s easier for people to get the same measurement if the length of each measuring unit is the same).

20. Find a liter container, such as a bottle, jar, or pitcher and fill it with water. Find two containers in the cupboard that hold less than a liter, and two that hold more than a liter. Fill them with water from the liter container to compare the amounts.

21. Using an object (ex. pencil, paper clip, spoon, fork, etc), measure different things around your house. Put together the different measurements from shortest to longest.

22. Using the RULER and an INCH RULER, measure ten things in your house.

23. If you have a scale at home, weigh yourself. Read the scale to the nearest pound. Then find three different large objects and estimate their weight. Weigh them separately. Read the weights and compare to your estimates.

24. Practice the ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION CARDS. Cut them on the lines. You may use the GAMEBOARD to play the game that you got in December. Review the other addition and subtraction cards.

25. On a blank piece of paper, draw your family. After drawing, measure each person drawn with your RULER. Write down the different lengths next to the person. Bring it to school to show your classmates!

26. Line up a couple of BEANS. Measure the beans. You can do the same thing lining up your BUTTONS or other things.

27. Have students explore measurement using the Spanish language! Find items that have different lengths. Longer is "es mas largo"...and shorter is "es mas corto"