I loved looking more directly and intentionally at body measuring through this activity. I have often resorted body measuring as a means of convenience when "eyeballing" something just wasn't enough. Prior to calibrating my body measurements for this activity there were some measurements I felt fairly confident about as I had at one point in time measured them, I knew from hand to hand and it was approximately a meter and a half, in this activity I measured my fathom to be 165.5cm, so it was close-ish. Most frequently I use body measurement to create consistency in spacing than for determining a specific distance.
Body measurement is so physically rooted in our everyday world as well as it being accessible mathematics for many people. The overarching idea of using the body as a means for measurement in place of manufactured measuring tools connects clearly the discussion of the ability to change perspective relating to understanding that Roger Antonsen's video demonstrated.
I used body-based measurement to help space the gallery wall my partner and I have in our home that we were re-doing. I used the width of my hand to ensure there was a more uniform spacing between the art pieces and to maintain enough distance from the doorframe. The original gallery wall we had we would just add a new piece wherever it fit and it ended up feeling crowded and too close to the door frame. my partner had loosely grouped the art combinations they wanted together for the wall and we moved from the top left corner and made our way down and across maintaining the spacing to the best of my ability.
This activity got me thinking about the next unit I will be exploring with my grade 8 students, which is surface area and volume. A common challenge I encounter in this unit is having enough measuring tools for them to use when working with physical manipulatives. I think I will be planning some activities around using body measurements as a tool for their calculations. Do you think having them calibrate their body measurements before or after having them use it as a means of measurement would be more beneficial? I can see that letting them calibrate it first might show them the direct relation quicker but I am curious if letting them create units out of their body measurements without its corresponding cm value would support them in shifting perspectives to using their body as a mathematical tool.
[TED]. (2016, December 13). Math is the hidden secret to understanding the world Roger Antonsen [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQElzjCsl9o
I usually make my students measure with their body and then, sometimes, we compare the body unit used to the metric system. I have not tried the other way around. My logic was that for my students who craft (sewing, beading, camp construction, etc.), they are already used to body measurements. I wanted to embrace their way of knowing/doing before linking it to Western mathematics. Sometimes, I do not even feel the need to convert the measurements to the metric system. I also know that my students would rather use body measurements to measure lengths than the metric system (by asking them after using body measurements). I think that the order depends on what are your goals. If I want my students to embrace Indigenous ways of knowing, I would make them use their body without calibrating. But if I want my students to have a better representation of the length of a meter, I would make them use their body knowing the calibration beforehand. To connect with this week’s reading, I think the latter would help them build the visualization of a meter on a known metaphor (their body) and help them use this resource again in another context.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your insight on this! I am wanting to incorporate more Indigenous ways of knowing into my teaching. I think I will start without them calibrating and work through some measurement and activities and then perhaps revisit versions of the activities later on after calibrating and discuss the time and place we want the precision of the metric system and when we want alternative measurement (with a bonus of convenience and efficiency).
DeleteI really related to your story about using body measuring for convenience and more for spacing rather than actually measuring. We have the tools to do this type of thing, built into our bodies, we should learn and be encouraged to use what we have!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of having them compare their measurements to cm after the activity, like you said this will allow them to shift their perspective and connect more to themselves rather than be solely thinking about numbers.
Thanks for this thought-provoking discussion, everyone. It is certainly a very human and grounded practice to use body measurement in many kinds of making and doing; it certainly can bring Indigenous ways of knowing and doing into our math classes very readily. I'm reminded of Elder Albert Marshall's work on two-eyed seeing, and Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer's writing on braiding Indigenous and mainstream science together. I wonder how we decide when it is more beneficial to use measuring tapes, metre sticks and other standardized measurement tools, and when it is 'handier' and better to use our own body measurements. That question in itself raises deep philosophical questions about where and why we trust industrialized culture more, and where we trust our own bodies more, as we function in our lives!
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