I Design Measuring Instruments to Quantify Physical Magnitudes

In this project, you will understand your environment by contrasting your knowledge about natural phenomena and physical magnitudes through experimentation. You will also construct simple measuring instruments, which will allow you to develop social skills and critical thinking.

Beginning and Observation

Collectively, read out loud the following statement:

En este proyecto, entenderás tu medio ambiente al contrastar tu conocimiento sobre fenómenos naturales y magnitudes físicas mediante la experimentación.También, construirás instrumentos de medición sencillos, los cuales te servirán para desarrollar habilidades sociales y pensamiento crítico.

Since ancient times, mankind has needed to know and manipulate its environment to survive. By observing nature, human beings noticed the changes related to the seasons of the year, the growth of plants, the roaming of animals, some properties of materials around them, and the way coexistence with other human beings was changing. The oldest populations noticed that, in order to describe an object, it was necessary to establish its characteristics, such as size, quantity, or extension. The first notion developed was the number, which allowed them to measure something by counting, and this gave rise to the first measurements with the use of rudimentary units. The first measurements used were those of mass, length, and time, and that is why they are called fundamental units.

To measure means to describe and to compare. Every culture has designed its own measurement patterns, which have had an impact in the coexistence of peoples around the world and their economic and social development. For this reason, agreements have been reached to establish measurement patterns based on what remains steady in nature. That is how, around 1800, the Decimal Metric System was born in France and subsequently all derived units were developed.

As more detailed descriptions of what happened in nature were made, it became necessary to use measurement instruments to describe reality better and more accurately. It was also necessary to describe some natural phenomena based on others already observed.

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