Mathematics, Data Analysis and Probability, Science, Life Science

Grade 1- 3

Objective

Students will learn how to determine how tall the trees in their neighborhoods are.

Directions

Setting the Stage
After completing the Measure a Tree exercise, ask the students if they can guess how tall the tallest tree on the schoolyard, the flagpole, or the tallest building in the area is. Accept all reasonable answers and then have the students use their luneometers to complete the chart on the following page.
Procedure

• Working in pairs, the students sight and measure various tall objects in the schoolyard or around their homes.
• Record the results on the work sheet.

Extension
The How Tall Is It? work sheet can be used to reinforce geometry skills of line and angle. It may also be turned into a math lesson. Numbers in columns can be added, totals can be subtracted, and the work sheet itself uses multiplication.
Closure
This activity may be utilized as a classroom contest with the winning team finding the tallest object in the neighborhood. The object can be a tree, a building, or silo. A small prize for the winners always makes this an exciting activity.

Resources

• luneometer (see the activity sheets below)
• copy of the How Tall Is It? work sheet (see the activity sheets below)