A group of five students, a ruler and masking tape are needed to complete this activity. Four people will be tossing or kicking the ball and one will be the recorder. Student A will mark his spot with a piece of masking tape and then drop-kick or toss the ball to person B, who will make the catch and mark the spot where the ball was caught. This step is repeated to students C and D, and then the last person will throw or kick the ball back to person A. The recorder will then measure his foot in inches and then count his steps from each marked point, walking heel-to-toe. Students will all solve for the perimeter of their quadrilateral by converting the number of steps into inches. For example, if point A to B is 10 steps and the foot was measured at 9 inches, the length of A to B would by 90 inches.
In this activity, students will compare the length of their wingspan to their height in inches. Have enough newspapers available to tape together so that students can lie on them with their arms stretched all the way out to create a wingspan. Working in pairs, students can trace each other's silhouette, creating a model of themselves. Then they can use a straight edge to draw a vertical line from the top of the head straight down the center to a base where their feet would have touched. Next, draw a horizontal line from the fingertip of one hand, across the chest to the opposite hand's fingertips. Measure both of these lines and compare them to each other. Students will see how close the two numbers are.
For this activity, students will need a chart showing conversions among inches, feet and yards. Students will compete in the standing long jump and airplane throw. For the long jump, students will stand with their feet planted on the starting line and jump as far as possible. The airplane throw is done in the same way, only students will throw paper airplanes. Measurement is taken in inches from the starting point to the closest spot that hit the ground. Students can then convert these measurements to feet and yards.
This activity requires three pint-sized containers, rice and measuring cups in the 1/4-cup, 1/2-cup and 1-cup sizes. Fill the first container with rice using the 1/4 cup and record how many times it takes to fill to the pint mark. Repeat this using the 1/2 cup and 1 cup. Record the findings and see if students recognize that the measurements for each one add up to equal 2 cups.