1. Making Measurements Meaningful
Mr. Ricks
MHS

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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?

5. 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)

6. How do you feel about the bank height values?

7. 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