How to read a tape measure

A friend heard about my article on 'how to teach your kids fractions, using a tape measure'. She asked me to write an article on how to 'read a tape measure'. OK here we go..

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Tape measure
• 4 quarters
• 2 half dollars
• picture of an octopus
• picture of a caterpillar
• One dollar bill

1. Extend the tape measure: The tape is in increments of 16ths, 8ths, 4ths, 1/2's and inches (for the article, we'll stay with fractions)Each increment is used in and of itself. For instance, when you use 4ths, you consider only 4 parts of one whole. Like 4 parts of one whole pie. (I like BIG slices)
2. For 16ths: Think of a caterpillar with 16 legs. One leg would be one out of 16, or on the tape, 1/16th. Sounds like basic math, huh. It is, only how come we all didn't have a tape measure issued to us in class? Lets advance just a little. Look at your tape and consider the caterpillar again. If we say that 2 legs would be 2/16ths, that would be right, but look at the different line on the tape for that mark. It's taller. That's because it is also 1/8th inch. The next increment in 16ths would be 3/16ths. Now the next increment would be 4/16ths, and that would be right, but it is also 1/4 inch.> 5/16ths > 6/16ths or 3/8ths.> 7/16ths > 8/16ths or 1/2 inch.
3. For 8ths: Use a picture of an octopus. If the octopus is holding a fish with 4 of its tentacles, and holding a lobster with its other 4 tentacles, half of his legs are doing one thing and half are doing another. Where we get confused in fractions, is that we think halves and quarters can only be in their own increment. Not so. Halves, in this story pertain to figurative half; not a fraction. Step 5 is literal.
4. For 4ths: Use (4) quarters. Four literal quarters make one whole dollar. 4 1/4" increments make one whole inch on a tape. Again, we are only interested in what happens when we put 4 quarters together. We'll get to adding and subtracting the other increments as we learn each increment individually. Study the tape measure. It gets easier as you measure things.
5. For 1/2": Use (2) half dollars. When we use money for a tutorial, it sticks in our minds easier. And because two half dollars can parallel two halves on a tape, its easier to consider. Two halves equal a whole. On a tape or in currency.
6. For 1": Use a dollar bill. One dollar is one whole. The one inch mark on the tape represents a whole increment. It take 4 quarters to make a one dollar increment. Or 2 half dollars to make one whole dollar. The reason for using the dollar is to understand 4ths and halves on the tape, as in quarters and half dollars.
7. Bring it all together: To add one increment to another, means to have an understanding of each increment by itself. By understanding the afore mentioned increments, a person may now do fractions from memory. For instance if you were in grammas kitchen and you overheard mom say to sis, this recipe calls for 1/2 cup + 1/8th cup, you'd holler out, " that's 5/8ths in total. Simply because you'd picture the increments on the tape measure it in your mind.

Tips & Warnings

• Have a tape measure laying around to practice with
• Keep it in the kitchen for recipe reference
• Always use a tape measure for centering pictures and photos
• A tape measure is not a toy. Be careful with it. The retracting spring in a tape measure is very powerful and can hurt the fingers.
• Never disassemble a tape measure. This is sure catastrophe because the spring is wound so tight.