Journal of the Mathematics Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association
Volume 45 Issue 1, December 2007
27 – 29
Taking Measurement Mathematics to New Heights with Student-Made Clinometers
Sherry Talbot
The use of tools in teaching and learning measurement allows students to experience mathematics in a direct and personal way. Tools help students connect diagrams and problems to the world around them and to their own experience. By the time they reach secondary school, students have a wealth of experience with rulers and measuring sticks, and they are beginning to look at how to use degrees to measure angles and construct polygons. We can build on these experiences by having students construct triangles to solve problems and use a clinometer, an instrument for determining angles of inclination or slope, to determine the heights of objects too tall to be measured with a measuring stick.
