Making Measurements Meaningful Mr. Ricks MHS

Measuring Pole (Ugly Stick) Introduction These poles will be used on your field trips to measure various physical features of the stream (more about that later) Your measuring poles are divided into 6 inch increments For each pole measurement you should record your value in inches and then convert it to feet (12 inches = 1 foot)

As a team use your pole to measure… The height (in feet) from the floor to the top of a wall outlet The height (in feet) of a student desk The area (in ft2 ) of a desktop The width of the hall (in feet) from lockers to lockers The width (in feet) of your Stats book Have someone record your team’s measurements on the board

Evaluation Overall how do your values compare to the rest of the class? Are the values all pretty close to each other? If there are differences what do you think caused them? How might your measuring device have affected the accuracy of your measurements? (How accurate do you really think your measurements are?) Using the same stick, what might you do to improve your measurements?

In this class you are a scientist so… You will be gathering, analyzing, and reporting various measurements We want your measurements to be meaningful (we post your data on the Internet and other agencies have access to it) Remember that any measurement is limited in accuracy by the device it is measured with (and the person using it)

How do you feel about the bank height values?

Basic Guidelines for the Stream Walk Measure in inches and convert to feet Report your measured values to 1 decimal place (Why?) Ask questions Take pride in your work (Be a scientist!) Stream Walk Handouts