Measuring & Plotting Lengths
Generate measurement data by measuring lengths to the nearest whole unit and display the data on a line plot
What a learner can do afterwards
- Measure the lengths of several objects and record the data
- Create a line plot with a horizontal scale marked in whole-number units
- Interpret a line plot to answer questions about the data
- Find the total measured length by adding recorded lengths in the same unit.
1 · Read
Place one end of each object at the ruler's zero mark and read the other end. For this activity, record the nearest whole centimetre. Pick the whole number closest to the end. Write every measurement with its unit in a list or table. To find total length, add the recorded lengths.
Zoe's acorn lengths, rounded to whole centimetres, are 4, 5, 4, 6, 5. She draws equally spaced whole-number ticks and labels the unit as centimetres. Above 4, she stacks two X's; above 5, two X's; above 6, one X. Each X is one acorn. A length with no acorns keeps its tick but gets no X.
Count the X's above a length to find how many objects have that measurement. A taller stack means more objects. To find the number of objects altogether, add the counts from every stack. Do not add the length labels when the question asks how many objects.
Measure each object to the nearest whole unit, write it down, then stack one X above its number on a line plot to see the whole pattern at a glance.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
17 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.