Kory Garcia-Ramirez
Title of Book:
Author:
Publisher/Year:
ISBN:
1
How Big is a Foot?
Rolf Myller
Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books,
Random House, Inc, New York. 1991
0-440-40495-9
Grade Levels for Recommended Use: 2nd
TEKS: Measurement (9) a. Identify concrete models that approximate standard
units of length and use to measure length;
Brief Summary: This book is about a king wanting to give his wife a birthday
present. What do you give a person that has everything?- A bed he thought. AS each
person that serves the king is asked about the size of the bed the information gets
crossed. The bed ends up not being big enough for the queen. A standard
measurement was required.
Materials needed: classroom tables, butcher paper, construction paper, pencil, and
scissors.
Suggested Activity: Teacher pre-covers the tables with white (or light color) butcher
paper. Students in groups of 4-5 will each trace the left foot on construction paper, and
cut out their footprint. Each student will initial one section at the front end of the table.
Taking turns each student will lay their footprint on the table and make a mark at each
end of the print all the way down the table. When reached the end each student will add
the footprints that fit within the length of the table and initial again. Compare the
numbers of footprint it took to measure the same size table. (Questions to ponder: Why
did the numbers vary? Are any of the numbers the same? What does that mean about the
measurement? What happens if a younger person would do this? What happens if an
older person would do this? Does age matter? What should we do to make the out come
the same?
Assessment option: Students may take their footprint home to replicate process with a
family member, returning their footprint and the family member’s footprint along with
data information to compare and explain in class.
Extension: Use the students' "footprints" to explore the concept of "average." Was one
size most common (mode)? When the footprints were arranged in order from smallest to
largest, was one size in the middle (median)? In what different ways could we find the
average size (mean)?
References: http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L205
www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview?LPid=10729
Adapted by: Kory Garcia-Ramirez (2011)