Unfortunately, the traditional textbook-based skills approach focuses on memorizing by rote measurement facts (e.g., equivalent measures such as 12 inches = 1 foot) and measurement procedures (e.g., how to use a ruler)" (1998, p. 15-9).



Absent hands-on exercises, though, many young learners will not have an opportunity to construct an understanding of the process of measurement or a concept of measurement unit which can frequently result in mechanical and inappropriate applications of measurement knowledge and tools. For instance, Baroody and Coslick point out that many elementary-level children tend to confuse area with perimeter and vice versa; some common types of errors that are made by these young learners when using a ruler, for example, include the following:



Counting the number of has marks starting with 0 rather than the units between the marks;



Treating the 1 hashmark as the starting point...
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