Middle school collection; specific grade not stated.
Archived standards are preserved as originally published and may differ from current standards.
Compelling question
How can one type of unit of measure be converted to another unit of measure?
Standards & practices
South Dakota Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.
Practice 1: Make sense of problems an persevere in solving them.
Practice 2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
Practice 4: Model with mathematics.
Practice 6: Attend to precision.
Practice 7: Look for and make use of structure.
Practice 8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Staging the question
How can we convert a length of time like a “Moon” in Native American terminology to another unit
of time like days?
Supporting inquiries
Supporting question 1
How can we compare an amount of
one unit to an equal amount of
another?
Formative performance task
Steps for solving a conversion problem:
1. Determine the given units and the
units we want to find. Will it take
one step or many?
2. State the equivalent units such as
“one Native American ‘moon’
equals 28 days. 1 moon = 28 days
3. Divide the equivalent values by
each other to get a quotient of 1.
1 moon/28 days = 1 or
28 days = 1 moon
4, Multiply the given unit value by
the division problem so that the given
units cancel out and the wanted units
remain. Ex. Convert 168 days to moons
168 days X 28 days/1 moon = 6 moons
Featured sources
GO MATH Grade 6 (2015) , pg 315-332
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing Company. Authors: Juli K.
Dixon, Matthew R. Larson, Edward B.
Burger, Martha E. Sandoval-Martinez,
Steven J. Leinwand (ISBN 987-0-544-
43281-9).
Supporting question 2
How do we change from one type of
unit to another type of unit without
destroying the initial value?
Formative performance task
Convert 10 cups drinking water to
gallons.
Step 1: Given units (10 cups). Wanted
units (gallons).
Step 2: 1 gallon = 16 cups
Step 3: 1 gal/16 cups or 16 cups/1 gal
Step 4:
10 cups X 1 gal/16 cups = .625 Gallons
Featured sources
Prentice Hall “Physical Science
Concepts in Action With Earth and
Space Science” Wysession, Frank,
Yancopoulos. pg 18, 196-198. ISBN 0-
13-166308-9
Supporting question 3
Can we use a model to convert any
unit value to any other unit value?
Formative performance task
Write the 4 steps to solving unit
conversion problems.
Step 1: Given units and wanted unit
Step 2: State equivalent units
Step 3: Divide equivalent values by
each other to get a quotient of 1.
Step 4: Multiply the given units by
the division problem that will cancel
given units and leave the wanted
units.
Featured sources
Not specified in the archived lesson.
Summative performance task · Argument
State the steps to calculating a conversion problem.
Extension
Calculate a conversion from 3520 yards to miles using the 4 conversion steps discussed
in this lesson. (1760 yards = 1 mile)
Taking informed action
Create and solve a conversion problem.
Elder sources included in this lesson
No specific Elder video could be matched to the archived lesson’s source references.
Original text & supporting materials
The complete archived text is retained here, including details that may extend beyond the inquiry blueprint.
Read the full archived lesson text
“Math: Converting from one unit to another” | OSEU 7: Way of Life &
Development
Compelling
Question
How can one type of unit of measure be converted to another unit of measure?
Standards and
Practices
South Dakota Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.
Practice 1: Make sense of problems an persevere in solving them.
Practice 2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
Practice 4: Model with mathematics.
Practice 6: Attend to precision.
Practice 7: Look for and make use of structure.
Practice 8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Staging the
Question
How can we convert a length of time like a “Moon” in Native American terminology to another unit
of time like days?
Supporting Question 1
Supporting Question 2
Supporting Question 3
How can we compare an amount of
one unit to an equal amount of
another?
How do we change from one type of
unit to another type of unit without
destroying the initial value?
Can we use a model to convert any
unit value to any other unit value?
Formative Performance Task
Formative Performance Task
Formative Performance Task
Steps for solving a conversion problem:
1. Determine the given units and the
units we want to find. Will it take
one step or many?
2. State the equivalent units such as
“one Native American ‘moon’
equals 28 days. 1 moon = 28 days
3. Divide the equivalent values by
each other to get a quotient of 1.
1 moon/28 days = 1 or
28 days = 1 moon
4, Multiply the given unit value by
the division problem so that the given
units cancel out and the wanted units
remain. Ex. Convert 168 days to moons
168 days X 28 days/1 moon = 6 moons
Convert 10 cups drinking water to
gallons.
Step 1: Given units (10 cups). Wanted
units (gallons).
Step 2: 1 gallon = 16 cups
Step 3: 1 gal/16 cups or 16 cups/1 gal
Step 4:
10 cups X 1 gal/16 cups = .625 Gallons
Write the 4 steps to solving unit
conversion problems.
Step 1: Given units and wanted unit
Step 2: State equivalent units
Step 3: Divide equivalent values by
each other to get a quotient of 1.
Step 4: Multiply the given units by
the division problem that will cancel
given units and leave the wanted
units.
Featured Sources
Featured Sources
Featured Sources
GO MATH Grade 6 (2015) , pg 315-332
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Prentice Hall “Physical Science
Concepts in Action With Earth and
Publishing Company. Authors: Juli K.
Dixon, Matthew R. Larson, Edward B.
Burger, Martha E. Sandoval-Martinez,
Steven J. Leinwand (ISBN 987-0-544-
43281-9).
Space Science” Wysession, Frank,
Yancopoulos. pg 18, 196-198. ISBN 0-
13-166308-9
Summative
Performance
Task
Argument
State the steps to calculating a conversion problem.
Extension
Calculate a conversion from 3520 yards to miles using the 4 conversion steps discussed
in this lesson. (1760 yards = 1 mile)
Taking Informed
Action
Create and solve a conversion problem.