Center Focus

Height of a Tree

  1. At the Math center, have students estimate the height of a particular tree in the schoolyard.
  2. Working in pairs, have them find the actual height. To do this, they will need to find the information to satisfy the following equation:
    ( height of tree )/( length of shadow of tree ) = ( height of student )/( length of student's shadow )
  3. Please note that the shadow measurements must be taken at the same time (sun's angle must be the same).
  4. This works well using string to measure the distances and heights while outside and then measuring the string once back inside.