Friday, August 12, 2011

Adventures in Pedagogy: Units Matter

Nevan is measuring the length of an aquarium when he exclaims:

"Dad, this thing is 3 feet long!"

"No it's not, its 36 inches."

"Hmm." *looks at the tape measure* "Oh, 36 inches and 3 feet are the same."

"No they're not. One is 3 and the other is 36. 36 is waaay bigger than 3."

"Dad. Look. Inches are smaller than feet. There's an amount of inches in a foot."

"Oh. How many?"

"12."

"Ok."


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