Following Directions Lesson

Mr. Davis
Agriscience
Elba High School
 Following Directions Lesson
 Take out a
clean sheet of
notebook paper
and something
to write with.
 Place it in front
of you on your
desk.
 Following Directions Lesson

 Fold your
paper in half
long ways “hot
dog style”.
 Following Directions Lesson
 Open your paper up
and place it holes to
the top on your desk.
 Draw a line all the
way down the crease
on the paper.
 “DO NOT WRITE
ON THE DESK!!”
 Following Directions Lesson
 Fold the paper in
half the other way
“hamburger
style”.
 You can see my
line because I
used a Sharpie
Marker and it
bled through the
paper.
 Following Directions Lesson
 Open the paper up
with the holes to the
top.
 Draw a line from
the center of the
paper to the margin
closest to you.
 Following Directions Lesson
 Fold the paper like
you had it last
“hamburger style”.
 Then fold it over
again in the same
direction as you
folded it last.
 Following Directions Lesson
 Open the paper
up.
 Draw a line on
each of the
creases half way
to the bottom
margin.
 Then fold your
paper back up
like you last had
it.
 Following Directions Lesson
 Fold the paper
over one more
time in the same
direction as your
last fold, making
it even more
slender.
 Following Directions Lesson
 Open the paper
up.
 Draw lines on
the four creases
half as long as
the last lines you
drew, or ¼ of the
way to the
bottom margin.
 Following Directions Lesson
 Draw small lines
on our paper in
between each of
the lines already on
your paper and the
left and right edges.
 Make the lines
extend down and
be half as long as
the last lines
drawn.
 Following Directions Lesson
 Next, draw lines on
the left and right
edges all the way
down below the
margin, half way
between the margin
and the bottom of the
paper.
 And in case you
haven’t already
figured it out, we are
making a ruler.
 Reading a Ruler
 Now all you
have to do is
count the lines
as you go from 1 2 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
6 10 14
left to right. 4 12

8
0 16
 Reading A Ruler
 By counting
you realize that
you have 16
equal parts to 1/16 3/16 5/16 7/16 9/16 11/16 13/16
15/16
2/16
an inch. 6/16 10/16 14/16
4/16 12/16
 Next you show
each number as 8/16
a fraction or 0 16/16

portion of the
total number
16.
 Reading A Ruler
 Next, you must remember from math that a fraction
should always be expressed in lowest possible terms.
 1/16 for example is in its lowest form, it cannot be
reduced any farther.
 2/16 however, can be reduced.
2 is the numerator (top number in a fraction)
16 is the denominator (bottom number in a fraction)
 Reading A Ruler
 2/16 can be reduced by 2. This means that both 2
and 16 are divisible by 2.
 2 divided by 2 = 1
 16 divided by 2 = 8
 Therefore our reduced fraction will be 1/8.
 Reading A Ruler
 Now lets take 3/16, will it reduce?
 I bet that someone said yes!
 Some people look at the three as the numerator
and the six in the sixteen (denominator) and
automatically think that this fraction will reduce.
However, it will not reduce.
 3/16 is already in its lowest terms.
 Reading A Ruler
 Next, lets look at 4/16. Yes it will reduce. There
are two ways to reduce fractions like this one. If
you’re a math wiz, you might say that 4 will go into
16. If you do, you are right. You can divide the
numerator into the denominator. This is the
quickest of the two ways, but you can divided both
the numerator and the denominator by 2, twice.
You have to be careful to get fractions like this one
into lowest possible terms.
 Reading A Ruler
 The easiest way to deal with 4/16:
 4 divided by 4 = 1
 16 divided by 4 = 4
 Your reduced fraction is ¼.
 Reading A Ruler
 The other way to deal with 4/16 is:
 4 divided by 2 = 2
 16 divided by 2 = 8
 Your fraction is 2/8, but is it reduced to lowest
possible terms? NO, you have to reduce again.
 2 divided by 2 = 1
 8 divided by 2 = 4
 Your reduced fraction is 1/4
 Reading A Ruler
 Now that you know how to reduce these fractions,
you finish reducing the rest of the fractions on your
ruler.
 Reading A Ruler

 Now Check
1/16 3/16 5/16 7/16
your fractions 1/8
9/16 11/16 13/16 15/16
3/8 5/8 7/8
against these 1/4 3/4
correct
answers. 1/2
0 1
 Now that you
know how to use a Reading A Ruler
ruler, here are
some short cuts
for you.
 As you have
noticed, the lines 1/16 3/16 5/16 7/16 9/16 11/16 13/16 15/16
1/8 3/8 5/8
are different 7/8
1/4 3/4
lengths on the
ruler.
1/2
 As we go across 0 1
one more time pay
attention to the
line length and the
denominator
associated with it.
 Reading A Ruler

 Did you notice

a trend?
 The longest
lines were of
course whole 1
0
numbers.
 Reading A Ruler
 The second
longest line is
1/2.

 The third 1/4 3/4

longest line has
1/2
a denominator
of 4.
 Reading A Ruler
 The fourth
longest lines
always have a
denominator of 1/16 3/16 5/16 7/16 9/16 11/16 13/16
15/16
8. 1/8 3/8 5/8 7/8

 The shortest
lines always
have a
denominator of
16.
 Reading A Ruler
 Now let’s look at
the whole ruler.
Can you tell me
what would be the A
correct
measurement for
the letter A.
 The answer is
5-7/16.
 You start at the
whole number and
you add the 5 6
calculated fraction
to the whole
number to give the
correct distance.
 Reading A Ruler
 What is the correct
measurement for
the letter A.
 The answer is A B C
10-3/16.
 What is the correct
measurement for
the letter B.
 The answer is
10-3/8.
 What is the correct
10 11
measurement for
the letter C.
 The answer is
10-3/4.
 Reading A Ruler
 Now you know how to read a ruler and deal with the
fractions involved.
 But these are measurements, and have to be expressed as
measurements. Write the following notes on your paper. 15/16

 This standard ruler is to be expressed in inches or in. or “.

Example: 1 ½”
 12 inches is equal to 1 foot or ft. or ‘. Example 4’ 1 ½”
 Three feet is equal to 1 yard or yd.
 Reading A Ruler
 See if you can tell the measurements of the
objects on the following screens for a quick
quiz.
 On the back of your paper title it
Measurement Quiz and number from 1 to 5.
 Measurement Quiz

1.
 Measurement Quiz

2.
 Measurement Quiz

3.
 Measurement Quiz

4.
 Measurement Quiz

5.
 Measurement Quiz Answers
 The answers to the quiz are:
1. 6 - 7/16”
2. 3 – 11/16”
3. 5 – 5/8”
4. 4 – 7/8”
5. 11 – 9/16”