LEARNING TO MEASURE THE WORLD

From its origins, man needed to compare objects or events (number of animals to trade, seasons, temperature, etc.). His first result was the creation of the concept of number . After this conceptualization, in the act of comparison, man was able to distinguish differences between the properties of objects. For example: if what you want to compare is the length of two threads, you can say "this is longer or shorter than this other". But these expressions do not allow us to specify too much. A more precise expression is "the first corresponds to twice the second". An important act in history was when man realized that to compare two objects he could do it indirectly through a third object used as a standard measure or unit of measure . This would solve the fact of being able to compare things that are not in the same place, for example, as long as we can take the unit of measurement with one. As we know, when talking about length, the first units of measurem...

Comparison is the basis of measurement. If you want to measure a length, you need to compare the object to be measured with a suitable unit of measurement. Before the implementation in Spain of the International System to measure: lengths, surfaces, capacity, weight..., each region had its own measures. Since that is no longer possible, they have fallen into disuse.  Some old units of measurement will be shown below: In length , the legua real  was very common, which is equivalent to 6,687 Km., but there was also the legua marina , a little smaller. These long distances were taken from what a horse could cover in about an hour. Other minor distances were measured in braza, step, vara, elbow, foot, hand, inch , names that have their origin in the physical distance to which they were equivalent measured on a person or an object. In mass , the ton  already existed, which was less than what we now call by that name, 920.16 kg. It was equivalent to 80 arrobas , ap...

Why do people measure? To communicate to another distant person in space or time how many things we have or problems are its dimensions. Due to the impossibility of transferring the object in question, due to its size or constitution. Due to the search for a relationship between two or more magnitudes. If we want to measure the length of an object we must handle a unit of length. We compare this with the object to be measured, the result of the comparison is the measurement, that is, the number of times that the unit is contained in the object to be measured. Historically, humanity has accompanied the need to quantify the continuum through stable units of measurement according to the problems they face. A new problem arises. How to build measuring instruments that were modified, above all, taking into account the increasingly small objects offered by current technology. Mathematics supported these constructions by endowing technology with numbers that allow us to measure: rational...

The most appropriate way to start measuring with students is, above all, creating them the necessity to measure. When people realize that something truly serves the reality of their day-to-day life, it is when they begin to be truly interested in learning it. In this way, if children realize that measurement is something that will work for their lives, it will be more interesting and meaningful learning for them. The objective of working with measurement is: To discover the necessity of measurement. To understand that to measure is to compare. To discover that we use units to measure. To discover that the measurement depends on the chosen unit and not on the quantity to be measured. How does a child learn to measure?  The process proceeds sequentially from perception to comparison. Measurement begins with the perception of what should be measured. Undoubtedly, some attributes can be perceived more simply than others. A child's height makes sense of length, weigh...

Since measuring is a difficult and complex act, which requires the student to practice and fluency in the classification and serialisation processes, it seems interesting that children have the opportunity very early on to find opportunities in their environment that put them in contact with the magnitudes physical, although initially this contact is carried out in an intuitive way, exploring with the senses. Consequently, the student must find in the classroom environment appropriate materials, structured or not, whose observation and manipulation provide him with data, such as their attributes. Thus, the student is able to establish a relationship between objects and actions, to observe similarities and differences, so that, ultimately, he can build logical-mathematical knowledge. Some didactic materials that can be used in the classroom: Length: Tape measure, ruler, meter, calipers ... Mass: weight perception game, scales, weights ... Capacity: sets of capacity me...

Concept games An example of an exercise could be: a box containing various objects will be taken, and children will be asked to choose a pencil "shorter" than the one they are taught, or a "bigger" object, etc. Children themselves can be used as a comparison object to establish the "greater than" or "smaller than". Objects in the classroom or yard can be used in terms of distance concepts, and children can also be asked to place certain objects so that they satisfy various conditions of distance or proximity. Ordering sizes It could be an extension of the previous games. Various objects are compared, making the children align them according to size, distance, etc., but always based only on perception, without the intervention of the measurement. Distance evaluation The teacher might start with questions from the classroom, such as: "if we left the large closet in the corner, do you think I could fit my table and the small c...