What's the weather like?

The weather is something that affects all of us. Although maybe you are not aware of it, I am sure that you usually check the weather forecast before going outside to know what clothes wear, if you need to bring an umbrella, etc. Today, we are going to focus on meteorology and its close relation to Mathematics, especially to probability and statistics.

Meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. The meteorological phenomena are bound by the variables that exist in Earth’s atmosphere. All of these variables can be measured through different instruments. Meteorologists are the people who analyse and study the atmospheric conditions of a place. After some time, they can talk about a kind of climate to this studied area. Finally, they can make predictions and elaborate forecasts that we normally consult.

Meteorological forecasts are completed processes in which lots of variables and elements are involved. Meteorologists measure and analyse temperature, precipitation, air pressure, humidity, etc. and they use different instruments to collect data. The most common tool is the thermometer, which is used to measure the temperature. The wind can be measured with the anemometer (speed) and the weather vane (direction). The barometer measures the atmospheric pressure whereas the rain meter collects the precipitations. In the following video, the students can learn about different types of weather.

After seeing all these contents, I wonder, how can we apply them at school? We have to think about different ideas. For instance, in my last Practicum, the children measured the temperature every day with a thermometer that they had in a window and they noted the grades down in their notebooks with the date and a drawing of the weather. It was quite simple and it helped them to know the temperature of each day, their variations and the atmospheric weather just by watching at the sky and expressing their views. They also noted down the season. In the end, they carried out a brief debate about the weather changes, their impressions, etc.

It could be a great activity for your classes and I would add something more. Since we are dealing with probability, it would be positive that everyday children look for the probability of precipitation, which appears in the official app of the AEMET, for instance. They can note it down too and draw conclusions about probability with the example of the weather. Using this app, they can also work with other items, such as wind speed or direction. If we want to go further, they can represent the collected data in some graphics so that they will study statistics at the same time. This is the link of the official page: AEMET Official Webpage

Our own measuring instrument

We don’t really know the potentiality that our body has for doing things. One of them is the ability to measure using different parts of it. As we have seen in a previous post, in ancient times, people used parts of their bodies as tools of measurement because there weren’t other objects that could measure.

Nowadays, although we can use more accurate systems to measure, as the meter system, I think that measuring with our body could be an enjoyable and exciting activity for our children in order to introduce them in the basic measurement concepts. In this way, they will be active and learning by doing, which is the most significant activity that can be done to acquire any knowledge.

After watching this video, the activity that I suggest is quite simple, but also engaging. Each child will select the parts of the body that he or she wants to use to measure different objects (the foot, the cubit, the hand…). Then, to make the practice more individual, each student will also select ten class elements that he or she wants to measure with the selected parts. Once they have made such decisions, it’s time to free measure! They will collect the information that they get in their notebooks. 

However, it is important to make our children aware that this system is not really precise, because we don’t have all the same size. For instance, the length of a child’s arm is different from the arm of another classmate. For this reason, once they have finished measuring, we will compare the results between children who measure the same object or space. In this way, they will realize that the length of one side of the classroom can be twenty steps or eighteen, depending on the person who has measured it. Therefore, we can say that our body is the most personal instrument to measure! Let’s try it!

Comparing and estimating in class

In this post, we are going to address something which is essential to teach our youngest children, those who are going to learn how to measure soon. Before that, students of the first and second courses of Primary Education should learn to compare and estimate objects and lengths. This will help them in the future to understand and operate with measurement units.

First of all, our students need to acquire comparison concepts: what is longer, shorter, smaller, higher, etc. The best way to do it is through games because they create an enjoyable atmosphere in class and learning occurs without realising. Some simple and feasible games can be carried out in class just taking a wide variety of school materials. Divided into different groups, children will choose the object that the teacher asks for. For instance, the biggest rubber or the longest rule. It can be a kind of competition to make the game more exciting. In this way, our students will learn to distinguish between objects making different comparisons. Once it has been achieved, we can start to order all the objects by its size building several series. The following video can be used to introduce the children to this topic.

Once our learners can compare, it’s time to estimate sizes and measures. It can be done also with the same planning as in the first game. However, in this case, we will ask our groups of learners for different aspects and then, we will check them. If our learners are very young, we will start by asking them if something fits in a place. For example, if a chair fits into a student’s bag. If they have more knowledge about measurement, we can ask them for the length of several objects present in the classroom. For instance, the length of their desks or the window. The children can make the estimations in their minds using the metric system or the system that they want (if they can estimate using a pencil or another specific object). The aim is that their brains start to imagine and think about the issue of measurement. In this way, we are familiarizing their eyes with the concepts of space, distance and length. Finally, we can add this video to our explanation and games to help our learners to compare and estimate.

What is MEASUREMENT?

First of all, before starting with other aspects or resources, we need to know what is the measurement, which can be measurable and some basic foundations about the topic. In this first post we are going to deal with these issues because we can’t address something if we don’t know it before, don’t you think?

According to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, to measure is the action of “comparing a quantity with its respective unit to discover how many times the second one is included in the first one”. This definition is only one of hundreds of them and we will take it just like a reference because our aim is the practical application of the basic concept.

However, what is the origin of measuring? Since ancient times, measuring has been a vital necessity for men and women. The first units of measurement appear with the first tools invented by human beings. The primitive societies needed rudimentary measures for several tasks: the construction of shelters, the dressmaking of clothes or just to be able to cook food to survive.

The most ancient systems of weight and measurement that we know were created in the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indian Valley. There were also references mentioned in the Bible. Many measurement systems were based on the use of the different parts of the human body and several tools found in each natural environment. Using the following video, we can teach our students how to measure using parts of their bodies. It can be a useful and enjoyable way to introduce them to the world of measurement.

Nowadays, we use the International System of Units (ISU) or (SI) in Spanish, which is the current decimal metrical system that establishes the units and magnitudes to be used internationally. This system consists of seven magnitudes used and their respective units of measurement: length, mass, time, electric intensity, temperature, light intensity and quantity of substance. Although this is an international system, there are some countries which have their measurement systems and can use both of them, as in England. I have found really interesting the following video to make children aware of the importance of using an international measurement system. The examples of measuring objects with pencils of different sizes can be carried out also in class with our students to see the differences.

The most important thing is that our learners can practically apply this theory using the proper units of measurement in their daily life. For this reason, we must teach it through meaningful situations that happens constantly. Finally, I suggest this video to sum up this introductory lesson about measurement for our students. It also includes a fun quiz at the end to check the acquisition of the previous contents. It uses the English system.