Interdisciplinary Theme/ INQUIRY question:

STAGE 1: a) Big Ideas, Rationale & Essential Questions

Big Ideas: (UNDERSTAND)
Rationale / Relevance
Identify Big Ideas (preferably from WHY is this unit of importance to
varied different curricular areas)
your students learning?

We can describe, measure,

and compare spatial
relationships: Polygons are
closed shapes with similar
attributes.

STAGE 1: b) What students will

CORE Competencies
Choose from at least one of the
three CORE competencies. Create
an I statement that links to a
facet of your chosen competency.
Students apply critical thinking to
create or transform products,
methods, performances, and
representations in response to
problems, events, issues, and
needs. They work with clear
purpose and consider the

Measurement is not only part of

the Grade 4 curriculum, but it is
also very useful for students to
develop an understanding of what
measurement is, as well as why
and how we measure, because
students already experience this
in their everyday lives and will
continue to do so. It is relevant
for students to understand that
measurement is a way of
comparing, describing, and
categorizing because these are
necessary critical thinking and life
skills.
be learning goals for the unit
Curricular Competencies (DO)
Skills, strategies and processes to
be developed:
At least one from each curricular
area.

Estimate reasonably
Develop mental math
strategies and abilities to
make sense of quantities
Develop, construct, and
apply mathematical

Essential Questions
What questions offer the greatest insight
into_________?

What is the difference between

metric and imperial measurement?
What are the units used in metric
measurement?
What is mass?
What is the difference between
weight and mass?
What is perimeter, how do we
calculate it?
What is area, how do we calculate it?

Content (KNOW)
Content/topics what students will know:
(state in your own words)

Measurement of a variety of shapes

in multiple units
Converting measurement amounts
from one unit to another (cm->m,
etc.)
Perimeter of regular and irregular

potential users or audience of

their work. They explore
possibilities, develop and refine
plans, monitor their progress, and
adjust their procedures in the light
of criteria and feedback. They can
determine the extent to which
they have met their goals
STAGE 2: Assessment Evidence
learning goals

understanding through roleplay, inquiry, and problem

solving
Connect mathematical
concepts to each other and
make mathematical
connections to the real
world

shapes

- Acceptable, authentic evidence demonstrating achievement of

Rich Culminating Task:

(summative)
What multiple ways will students represent their
learning? (Which final products, observations,
conversations offer the BEST evidence OF learning)

Other Evidence:
(formative)
What kind of assessment for learning opportunities can I
provide to support progress towards the summative tasks?
Which ONGOING/DRAFT products, observations and
conversations can guide my instruction and offer support
FOR learning learning goals, feedback, criteria, peer and
self assessment)

Students will create a measurement fan which will

include metric length, metric weight, and metric
capacity. This fan will help them throughout the unit
and help me gauge their learning so far.

Students will create a scale with a partner that will help them
through the mass section of this unit.

Once we get to the perimeter section of the unit the

culminating task will be to create a dream house
that students will need to measure the perimeter of
each room, and add them together to find the area
of the home.

STAGE 3: Learning Plan

Multiple ticket out the door slips so that I can gauge their
learning so far, and worksheets

What learning experiences will you design to allow students to engage with the content and develop their skills in
the competencies? What sequence will best develop the learning?
Learning Intention
Teaching/Learning Activity
SWBAT understand and discuss the meanings, and
Introduction to Measurement
significance of the units measurement terminology
Read the story How Big is a Foot? to introduce the
and concepts.
importance of standard units of measurement.
Ask students what other units of measurement they
know
Create a list of the types of measurement that students
know and divide into two columns- metric & imperial.
Do not label the columns, instead ask the students if
they know what theyre called & have them copy them
down in the same order that I do. Say thats the class
challenge for the following math class, to figure out
what the two columns are labelled.
SWBAT select and justify referents for:
Centimetres & meters

Students will demonstrate that they can accurately

measure

Students will gain a better understanding of the

importance of using standard measurement vs.
referents.

The students line up cm cubes along their rulers to

represent the cm then brainstorm, How would we
know if something was one cm without a ruler?
Introduce referents such as the width of pinky finger for
cm. bring out pre created chart and hang on front
board
Identify the distance from the doorknob to the floor as a
referent for one m by measuring it with a meter stick,
then brainstorm a list of items in the classroom that are
about one m.
Teacher hands out worksheet with estimates on one
side and actual measurements (in cm) on the other
side. During this class students only fill out the
estimates.
Watch YouTube video on the Metric system to refresh students
memory of previous class - Metric System
Scavenger hunt around the classroom, use pinky as
referent, find things ____ number of centimeters long
and compare results as a class.
Complete worksheet from previous class using a ruler

SWBAT select and justify referents for:

Feet, inches and yards

SWBAT model and describe the relationship

between:
Centimeters & meters
SWBAT use referents to estimate:
Length, width & height

Students will visualize one cm using their personal

SWBAT understand and discuss the meanings, and

significance of the units measurement terminology
and concepts.

SWBAT measure and record:

Perimeter using cm and m

Students will understand that grams are lighter than

kilograms but both are units to measure mass

Discuss the difference between metric & imperial

Show YouTube video Inches, Feet & Yards
Unfold pre created chart at the front of class to show
the referents for imperial measurement
Create measurement fans

referent and then draw a line, or cut a piece of string to

what they think is 10cm.
The students will complete worksheets and simple word
problems where they will have to describe that 100cm
=1m, 200cm=2m etc.
The students will do worksheets where they have to
match an item to the unit of measurement they would
use to measure it.
Class and group discussion about the meaning of height, width,
length.
Have students line up according to height without using
any words.
Model measuring the length, width and height of items
in the class then have students complete a worksheet
in pairs by measuring height, width, and length of
objects in the classroom and each other.
Discuss answers and possible sources of error as a
class.
Introduction to mass
First we will ask what is mass? And how we can
determine the mass of an item?
Have a class discussion about the question: How can
we figure out how many grams are in a kg? Using
paper clips, students will model the relationship
between the kg and g. Pairs of students will count out
100 paper clips and we will total 1000 as a class. We

SWBAT Identify that mass measures the amount of

matter contained in an object.

Students are able to make logical predictions using

referent knowledge and group discussion.

SWBAT measure & record:

Mass using g & kg

SWBAT model and describe the relationship between:

g & kg

SWBAT understand and discuss the meanings, and

significance of the units measurement terminology
and concepts.
SWBAT use referents to estimate:
mass

will put them on a scale to determine that 1000 one g

paper clips equals one g.
We will work through simple conversions as a class and
then the students will do a worksheet converting kg to
g. (Conversion Worksheet)
I gather approximately eight food items that have boxes
or containers that show their mass, and then use
masking tape to hide these measurements
After allowing students the opportunity to hold gram
and kilogram weights in their hands, I then pass around
the food items, allowing the children to decide which
items are heavier or lighter than others.
They rank them from 1 being the items with the
smallest mass to 8, which they have ranked as the
largest mass.
After all of the items have been ranked, then take off
the masking tape to reveal the mass of each item.
Students then record the actual masses on their
worksheets.
(Mass Worksheet #1)
We will then weigh a few items using the kitchen scale
in kg and convert it to grams and vice versa
Following that will be a pop quiz type worksheet
handed out at the start of class (Mass Worksheet #2)
which will introduce the idea of converting from grams
to kg and back.
Students (in pairs) will make their own pan balances out
of hangers, plastic cups, and yarn. Youtube video for
sample: Build your own scale
Students will be given a worksheet with items listed on
one side and a space for estimates on the other.
Students will then take a referent item (for example a
wooden base 10 rod for 10 g) and estimate the mass of
other objects using their pan balance.

SWBAT measure & record:

Mass using g & kg
Students will estimate and predict the mass of items
based on

SWBAT measure & record:

Mass using g & kg
SWBAT use referents to estimate:
Mass (weight)

SWBAT measure & record:

Mass using g & kg

SWBAT understand and discuss the meanings, and

significance of the units measurement terminology
and concepts.

SWBAT define perimeter

Using the pan balances that they created the previous

class as well as labelled referents to get the exact
weight, students will be provided with a Mass
challenge list
Students will estimate the mass of their backpacks
using a one kg referent, and then determine actual
mass by using a bathroom scale, and chart it on a list
where we will determine if it is safe to carry that much
Ticket out the door: students will write a prediction to
the question, Based on your knowledge of mass thus
far, are balls that are bigger going to be the heavier?
Students will enter the next class with the results of the
question on the board
Next they will estimate, measure and record the
masses of different sized balls.
Criteria: The measurement of the balls will have
appropriate units and correct measurement and
determine that size does not determine mass.
Students will be given a chunk of clay and the problem
Does mass change or stay the same when you change
the shape of an object?
In pairs students will be asked to Design an
experiment to solve the problem.
Criteria: The steps of the experiment are written
down and they come to the conclusion that
changing the shape of the clay has no effect on
its mass (weight.)
Students tasked in the same pairs to find 5 sets of
things with roughly the same mass, but noticeably
different sizes and shapes. They will be challenged to
see what team can come up with the most profound
pair of objects.
Perimeter Introduction

SWBAT estimate the perimeter of items based on

prior knowledge
SWBAT describe how to calculate the perimeter of a
shape.

SWBAT calculate the perimeter of items using

proper units of measurements

Ask students if they know what perimeter means?

Play them this YouTube video: Calculating perimeter
Bring out Pre-made perimeter anchor chart
Students will estimate the perimeter of classroom items
using the techniques that they have learned over the
past few weeks earlier in our measurement unit. They
will write down these estimates on a worksheet.

Calculate the actual perimeter of the classroom items

using a ruler and finish the worksheet.
Discuss Geoboards & elastics, and outline expectations
Allow students time to play around with the geo boards,
making shapes, etc. as long as they are following the
rules with the elastics.

SWBAT demonstrate that they know how to

calculate the perimeter of shape

SWBAT define area

SWBAT demonstrate that they know how to
calculate the area of a shape

Review the definition of perimeter and the rules of the

geoboard
Have everyone bring out the geoboards and elastics
and explain that between every peg is worth one
length
Using the online geoboard demonstrate with squares
and rectangles and have students copy your shape
then ask them to figure out the area
Have them create their own shapes and draw them out
on their graph paper and write the perimeter of each
one
Area Introduction
Ask students if they know what area means?
Watch this YouTube video Teaching Area
Bring out pre-made anchor chart for area
Have students use the geoboards again but this time
theyll be calculating the area of the shapes they
create. They will still have to draw out their shapes and
show their work so that teacher can use it for formative
assessment

SWBAT demonstrate that they know how to

calculate the perimeter and area of a shape
**The outcome of this lesson will determine whether
or not the class is ready for the final project or need
more desk work.

Create graph animals and calculate the area and

perimeter
Introduce area and perimeter task cards

Final 2 lessons- Dream house final project

How will the learning be made ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL students to succeed?
(adaptations, Universal Design, Differentiated Instruction, learning supports, multimodal resources)
This unit is great for allowing adaptations throughout, the final culminating task for example will be the students
creating their dream house and they must calculate the area and perimeter of each individual room and then the
house total. Part of the criteria in this project will be squared corners to allow for more simplicity, however if through
my formative assessment pieces I see that a student is excelling I can offer them the opportunity to be a little more
creative with the house by adding new angles.