Subject: Measuring the height

Author: Zyta Sendecka

Target group

4th grade student of elementary school.

Core curriculum

4th grade

II. Orientation outside. Student:

5) makes and describes a sketch of the school area;

6) reads the information from a plan and a map using a legend.

Skills and application of knowledge in practice:
1. Conducting observations and measurements in the field including the use of various aids: plan, map, magnifying glass, compass, measuring tape, binoculars, etc.

Lesson objective

Students perform measurements in the field and estimate heights.

The criteria for success

• you will determine the relative height of the hill with a school’s levelling instrument, tape measure, string, straight stick and stones;

• you will determine the relative height of the selected object basing on the shadow.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• mathematical competence and basis competences in science and technology; 

• digital competence;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Methods/forms of work

Working with text, workshop work and observation.

Activity in pairs.

Teaching aids

• abstract;

• tablets;

• school’s levelling instrument;

• rocks;

• string;

• straight stick;

• tape measure.

Note

The lesson should be conducted on a sunny day, outside. Choose a place with a not too high hill and any high object (this can be a church tower, a chimney, or possibly a tall tree).

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher specifies the subject, the lesson objectives in a language the student understands, and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher reminds the students of the safety rules that they should follow during lessons taking place outside school building.

Realization

1. The students make pairs. Each pair receives a tablet, school’s levelling instrument, rocks, string, straight stick and a tape measure.

2. The teacher asks the students to determine the relative height of the indicated hill according to the instructions given in the abstract (“Observation 1”). Students send their results to the group’s e‑mail address.

3. Students look at the interactive illustration “Measuring the height” and, working in pairs, determine the relative height of the selected object basing on the shadow: they perform appropriate measurements and calculations. Students send their results to the group’s e‑mail address.

Summary

1. Students do interactive exercise no. 1 in the form of an individual activity.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Measuring the height

The relative height can be measured in two ways. The first one requires the use of a contour map, i.e. one on which the contours are marked. To calculate the relative height of the hill you are interested in, first you have to find it on the map, then read the absolute height of its top and subtract the absolute height of the hill foot from this value. In this way, the relative height of the hill is obtained.

The second way to determine the relative height is to measure it yourself. It is not difficult at all. All you need is a simple levelling instrument.

You can determine the relative height of the hill and the contours with simple instruments. Make sure the levelling instrument is correctly set – otherwise the measurement will be erroneous.

Now let's assume that we want to determine the relative height of a tree or a building. We will not find it in the maps. If we look at a modern building, we can assume that its floor is about 3 meters high. For example, a four‑storey building with a ground floor is about 15 m high. If we want to know the height of a tree growing in a city, we can compare it to a house standing next to it. What if there is no house nearby? On a sunny day, you can easily calculate the height of any high element in the field from the shadow.

• Heights can be measured in the field with a simple instrument – a levelling instrument.

• The height of some objects, such as trees, can be measured “roughly” by the length of the shadow they cast.