Students need active learning experiences to understand measurement concepts and develop important skills. These resources provide opportunities for students to problem solve with hands-on and virtual measurements in real-world and online environments.

Fit by Design or Design to Fit
This applied mathematics lesson features hands-on activities supporting the NCTM Measurement Standard, and can be used to introduce middle school students to a bit of trigonometry. All that is needed are measurement tools — carpenter’s square, a piece of string, and a protractor.

The Global Sun Temperature Project
Bigger than hands-on, this is an annual real-world, international and interdisciplinary research project for students. Classes gather local data, post data online, and use the aggregated data to see how average daily temperatures and hours of sunlight relate to distance from the equator.

It Takes Ten
Students use metric units to estimate and measure weight, length, and volume, and to determine area.

Open-Ended Math Problems: Get Ready, Get Set
Select a month and scroll down to find open-ended measurement problems at three levels of difficulty. Students build mathematics understanding and see how mathematics is used in everyday life.

Pentagon Puzzles
This measurement lesson is one of 37 hands-on projects focused on mathematics. See http://www.math.nmsu.edu/~breakingaway/lessons.html for more lessons.

Popcorn Math
Here is a volume estimating activity for students to do on their own or with others.

Surface Area and Volume
Examine prisms from multiple views, adjust dimensions, rotate prisms, and see how dimension changes impact volume and surface area. Students can also calculate volume and surface area.

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