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Warm-Up Activity: Measuring OurselvesUsing your own body,
determine:How many hands tall are you?How many finger-widths tall
is your head?How many finger-widths is it from your elbow to the
tip of your finger?Compare your results with your neighbors.
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A Concise and Abbreviated History of MeasurementUnits of
measurement based on the human bodyDiagram of Yupik (Alaska Native)
units of lengthRelief carving of Ancient Greek measurement using
hand span and footDiagram of Egyptian definitions of cubit and
palmimage credit: Jerry Lipka et alphoto credit: Xavier de
Jaurguiberry
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The SmootThe Harvard Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, MA.
The Harvard Bridge is 364.4 Smoots in length, plus or minus an ear.
Oliver Smoot being used to measure the Harvard Bridge in 1958.
photo credit: Denimadept creative commons photo credit: MIT museum
via Dave Schumaker
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With trade and taxation came the need for standardized
unitsStandard weights for measuring gold dust used by the Asante of
Ghanaphoto credit: Claudia ZaslavskyStandardized weights from the
Indus river valleyphoto credit: John Hill creative commonsphoto
credit: Andrew RobinsonA bronze ruler from the Han dynasty in
China
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Systems of measurement commonly used in the US:The English or
Imperial Systemimage credit: Ian Whitelawphoto credit: Andrew
RobinsonThe early English inch was defined as the length of three
barleycorns laid end-to-endKing George the III of Englands standard
weights from 1773.
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Systems of measurement commonly used in the US:The Metric
SystemSince 1983, the meter has been defined as the distance that
light travels in 1 299,792458th of a secondCommemorative stamp
showing the French Republic measuring one quarter of the earths
circumference the original idea behind the meter
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Systems of measurement commonly used in the US:More about the
metric systemThe Canadian Standard Kilogram. The kilogram is the
only unit in the metric system defined by an actual object.photo
credit: Harry Turner, National Reseach Council of CanadaThe nickel
has a mass of 5 gramsA cube of water with sides each 1 cm has a
mass of 1 gram1 cm1 cm1 cm
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BibliographyLipka, Jerry, Tod Shockey and Barbara Adams.
Bridging Yupik Ways of Measuring to Western Mathematics in Learning
and Teaching Measurement: 2003 Yearbook. Ed. Douglas Clements and
George Bright. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,
Inc, Reston, VA. 2003
Robinson, Andrew. The Story of Measurement. Thames and Hudson
Ltd, London, UK. 2007
Tavernor, Robert. Smoots Ear: The Measure of Humanity. Yale
University Press, New Haven, CT. 2007
Whitelaw, Ian. A Measure of All Things: the story of man and
measurement. Quid publishing, Hove, England. 2007
Zaslavsky, Claudia. Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African
Culture. Prindle, Weber, and Schmidt Inc, Boston, MA. 1973
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Your turn: DiscussionIn groups of 2 or 3, discuss the following
questions:Why do we measure? How do we choose what to use to
measure?
Think not only in general, but also in the context of your work
in your program.