What Makes Something Alive - Virginia Department of Education

Session 3.8 – Square-Meter Habitats: Observation 1
Teacher Questions & Notes
Procedures
centimeters. Also find the mark on the bottom meter stick
that shows the first 10 centimeters. Point out to students that
every 10 centimeters is called a decimeter.
d. Select two student volunteers to lay a piece of the precut
string from the top meter stick‟s 10 centimeter mark to the
bottom meter stick‟s 10 centimeter mark. Tape the piece of
string to both the top stick and the bottom stick.
e. Have student volunteers lay eight more pieces of precut
string vertically from the top meter stick to the bottom meter
stick, one at each 10-centimeter mark (20, 30, 40, etc.).
Tape the strings to the top and bottom meter sticks.
f. Have student volunteers lay the other pieces across
horizontally to create 10 rows. Be sure to tape each piece of
string on the meter sticks.
g. Use the terms vertical and horizontal as well as columns and
rows, and explain their meaning.
20. Have students count each created square by ones to see that
there are 100 squares in the square meter.
Example of 22c:
1
2
3
4
First count down
by 10‟s (10, 20,
30, 40, 50). Each
row across is 10.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Second, count
across by ones (1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
21. Ask the students if there is a quicker way to determine how
many squares there are in the square meter. Guide the students
to see that counting by tens is quicker.
22. Pass out the First Square-Meter Habitat Observation Record
sheet and the pencils.
a. Relate the squares in the grids on the First Square-Meter
Habitat Observation Record sheet to the squares on the
square meter grid you just made.
5
6
7
8
9
10
57 th square
b. Students may want to number each column from one to ten
and each row from one to ten.
c. Practice with the class on how to locate specific squares in
the grid. Talk with the students about counting down by
tens and then across by ones. (e.g., To find the 57 th square
in the square meter (5 tens and 7 ones), count down the grid
95
Virginia Animals and their Habitats
Topic 3