Rationale
Measurement is one basic skill necessary for life. Whatever we choose to become in life, a doctor, a pharmacist, a plumber, an auto mechanic, a teacher, or a scientist, we need measurement skills. When a baby is born, weight and length are recorded; when we buy gas, gasoline pumps give volume measurements. When we go to supermarkets to buy groceries, meat, poultry products, and produce, we see these things packed and labeled with appropriate mass or volume amounts. When driving, we are guided with road signs showing distances between two destinations. When traveling across states, we consider temperature and weather forecasts. In gyms and workout areas, treadmills and other machines show calories lost, distance traveled, and even pulse and heart rates. At home as mothers, we exercise caution in measuring milk formula. In whatever we do, there is always something that needs to be measured.
Every year, it always bothers me to see students who cannot even identify units of length in a meter stick. In ninth grade, they come to my biology class not equipped with simple measurement skills like getting the volume or finding the mass. Most often, they cannot give accurate mass or volume measurements using ordinary weighing scales or simple beakers. One time, when I was discussing how each laboratory apparatus is used, I asked one student to prepare fifty milliliters of water. With confused eyes, she grabbed the graduated cylinder and filled it up to the brim. In the mole lab activity for chemistry last school year, I asked students to measure the masses of different substances. When I checked their recorded data, I saw masses in kilograms and I found it absurd because the largest mass I prepared was 64 grams of copper. Units of measure baffle them. I realized then, that measurement, for them, is one very challenging activity. Thus, when faced with simple tests having problems on dimensional analysis, they get scared or frustrated. I get the same response teaching solution concentration and mole problems. Most of my students simply turn their backs and decide not to do any thing at all. This worries me more. And, I, as a teacher believe, it is my responsibility to think of more effective strategies and relevant lessons that will make them more motivated and engaged in learning. And, I also believe, using issues with personal and social significance like bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals, I can realize my goals and develop in my students the necessary skills needed in future studies and in the world of work.
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