In this activity students practice measuring techniques by measuring different objects and distances around the classroom. They practice using different scales of measurement in metric units and estimation.

Module 3 begins by extending students’ kindergarten experiences with direct length comparison to indirect comparison whereby the length of one object is used to compare the lengths of two other objects.  Longer than and shorter than are taken to a new level of precision by introducing the idea of a length unit.  Students then explore the usefulness of measuring with similar units. The module closes with students representing and interpreting data.

In this 12-day Grade 2 module, students engage in activities designed to deepen their conceptual understanding of measurement and to relate addition and subtraction to length.  Their work in Module 2 is exclusively with metric units in order to support place value concepts.  Customary units will be introduced in Module 7.

Module 2 uses place value to unify measurement, rounding skills, and the standard algorithms for addition and subtraction.  The module begins with plenty of hands-on experience using a variety of tools to build practical measurement skills and conceptual understanding of metric and time units.  Estimation naturally surfaces through application; this transitions students into rounding.  In the module’s final topics students round to assess whether or not their solutions to problems solved using the standard algorithms are reasonable.

In this 20-day module students explore area as an attribute of two-dimensional figures and relate it to their prior understandings of multiplication. Students conceptualize area as the amount of two-dimensional surface that is contained within a plane figure.  They come to understand that the space can be tiled with unit squares without gaps or overlaps.  They make predictions and explore which rectangles cover the most area when the side lengths differ.  Students progress from using square tile manipulatives to drawing their own area models and manipulate rectangular arrays to concretely demonstrate the arithmetic properties. The module culminates with students designing a simple floor plan that conforms to given area specifications.

This 10-day module builds on Grade 2 concepts about data, graphing, and line plots. The two topics in this module focus on generating and analyzing categorical and measurement data.  By the end of the module, students are working with a mixture of scaled picture graphs, bar graphs, and line plots to problem solve using both categorical and measurement data.

Module 2 uses length, mass and capacity in the metric system to convert between units using place value knowledge.  Students recognize patterns of converting units on the place value chart, just as 1000 grams is equal 1 kilogram, 1000 ones is equal to 1 thousand.  Conversions are recorded in two-column tables and number lines, and are applied in single- and multi-step word problems solved by the addition and subtraction algorithm or a special strategy.  Mixed unit practice prepares students for multi-digit operations and manipulating fractional units in future modules.

In this 20-day module, students build their competencies in measurement as they relate multiplication to the conversion of measurement units.  Throughout the module, students will explore multiple strategies for solving measurement problems involving unit conversion.

In Module 1, students’ understanding of the patterns in the base ten system are extended from Grade 4’s work with place value of multi-digit whole numbers and decimals to hundredths to the thousandths place. In Grade 5, students deepen their knowledge through a more generalized understanding of the relationships between and among adjacent places on the place value chart, e.g., 1 tenth times any digit on the place value chart moves it one place value to the right. Toward the module’s end students apply these new understandings as they reason about and perform decimal operations through the hundredths place.

After students observed, analyzed, and classified objects by shape into pre-determined categories in Module 2, they now compare and analyze length, weight, volume, and, finally, number in Module 3. The module supports students’ understanding of amounts and their developing number sense. The module culminates in a three-day exploration, one day devoted to each attribute: length, weight, and volume.

This task adds some rigor to the activity of growing bean plants. By collecting growth data, students practice measuring and recording length measurements.

Students visit second- and fourth-grade classes to measure the heights of older students using large building blocks as a non-standard unit of measure. They also measure adults in the school community. Results are displayed in age-appropriate bar graphs (paper cut-outs of miniature building blocks glued on paper to form bar graphs) enabling a comparison of the heights of different age groups. The activities that comprise this activity help students develop the concepts and vocabulary to describe, in a non-ambiguous way, how heights change as children age. This introduction to graphing provides an important foundation for creating and interpreting graphs in future years.

In this activity students measure their hand span. A line graph is used to record the data from the glass.

Students operate mock 3D bioprinters in order to print tissue constructs of bone, muscle and skin for a fictitious trauma patient, Bill. The model bioprinters are made from ordinary materials— cardboard, dowels, wood, spools, duct tape, zip ties and glue (constructed by the teacher or the students)—and use squeeze bags of icing to lay down tissue layers. Student groups apply what they learned about biological tissue composition and tissue engineering in the associated lesson to design and fabricate model replacement tissues. They tangibly learn about the technical aspects and challenges of 3D bioprinting technology, as well as great detail about the complex cellular composition of tissues. At activity end, teams present their prototype designs to the class.

Background: How Neural Networks Work
Pairs with: AI & The Environment, AI & Dance, AI & Facial Recognition
Length: 2-4 hours

Curriculum aligns to:
- NGSS Engineering standards
- ISTE standards
- Common Core ELA/Literacy standards
- Also maps to CSTA standards

Description: GANs are often used when machines create new images or video content. This lesson explores how each work
Pairs with: AI & Deepfakes
Length: 2-4 hours

Curriculum aligns to:
- NGSS Engineering standards
- ISTE standards
- Common Core ELA/Literacy standards
- Also maps to CSTA standards

In this activity using a balance scale students practice weighing items to see how heavy they are. Cubes are used in the balance as units of measure so students may easily count them.

Students work in pairs to measure length by lining up cubes along the longest side of an item. They count and record length by counting the number of cubes.

Description: An introductory hands-on deep dive into the technical details about how machines hold the information that they’ve learned. In the end, students will teach others what they have learned
Pairs with: Everything
Length: 2-4 hours

Curriculum aligns to:
- NGSS Engineering standards
- ISTE standards
- Common Core ELA/Literacy standards
- Also maps to CSTA standards

Background: How Neural Networks Work
Pairs with: AI & Ethics, AI & Drawing
Length: 2-4 hours

Curriculum aligns to:
- NGSS Engineering standards
- ISTE standards
- Common Core ELA/Literacy standards
- Also maps to CSTA standards