1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on the Microsoft Educator Network.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location, take a Skype lesson on today’s topic, or invite a guest speaker to expand on today’s subject. And if you are using Windows 8, the panoramas in the MSN Travel App are great teaching tools. We have thousands of other education apps available on Windows here.
Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Measurement & Data
CCSS.Math.Content.4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), ...
CCSS.Math.Content.4.MD.A.2 Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams such as number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.

2. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions?
© Sylvain Sonnet/Corbis
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions?
The name Ponte Vecchio means “old bridge” in English. Indeed, the first bridge in Florence across the Arno River was probably built here during Roman times. And yes, those are buildings standing atop the span. Merchants have tended shops on the bridge for centuries. Initially, it was mostly butchers, but these days the butcher shops have been replaced by art, craft, and jewelry sellers.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions? 1
Web Search
What units do people in the United States measure distance in? What system of measurement is this a part of? 2
What units do people in Italy measure distance in? What system of measurement is this a part of? 3
Web Search/Thinking
Make a conversion table that compares meters to feet. How many feet are in 1 meter? How many meters are in 1 foot? 4
If we knew the distance of Ponte Vecchio in meters, how could we convert this to feet? 5
If we knew the distance of Ponte Vecchio in feet, how could we compare this to meters?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions? 5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions? 1
Web Search
What units do people in the United States measure distance in? What system of measurement is this a part of? 2
What units do people in Italy measure distance in? What system of measurement is this a part of? 3
Web Search/Thinking
Make a conversion table that compares meters to feet. How many feet are in 1 meter? How many meters are in 1 foot? 4
If we knew the distance of Ponte Vecchio in meters, how could we convert this to feet? 5
If we knew the distance of Ponte Vecchio in feet, how could we compare this to meters?

7. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions? 1
Web Search
What units do people in the United States measure distance in? What system of measurement is this a part of?
(Possible Search Queries: “how do people in the United States measure distance?”, “system of measurement in the United States”, “what units do people in the United States use to measure distance?”).
From and
The US measurement system is a confusing matter and still holds itself apart from the metric system employed by most other countries. There are a few exceptions. Medical and scientific fields use the metric system, and many items for trade are now measured in the International System of Units (SI), also called the metric system. The US measurement system is based on the English system, or imperial units, though England has now long since converted to SI.
Measurements of length help you to know how far you have traveled, how far you have left to travel, how tall you are and many other things. In the U.S. important units to learn about to measure length are inches, feet, yards and miles.

8. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions? 2
Web Search
What units do people in Italy measure distance in? What system of measurement is this a part of?
(Possible Search Queries: “how do people in Italy measure distance?”, “what system of measurement do Italians use?”).
From
Metric System of Measurement. (Correctly called “”SI”). The metric system is a system of measuring. It has three main units: the meter for length, the kilogram for mass and the second for time.

9. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions? 3
Web Search/Thinking
Make a conversion table that compares meters to feet. How many feet are in 1 meter? How many meters are in 1 foot?
(Possible Search Queries: “what is the difference between meters and feet?”, “convert feet to meters”, “convert meters to feet”).
Answers will vary. Students should use the Bing online calculator in order to convert feet to meters and meters to feet and develop a conversion table like the one below.
Feet Meters

10. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions? 4
Web Search/Thinking
If we knew the distance of Ponte Vecchio in meters, how could we convert this to feet?
(Possible Search Queries: “how do you convert meters to feet”, “formula to convert meters to feet”).
From
Multiply any meter measurement by 3.28 to convert to feet. Since one meter = 3.28 feet, you can convert any meter measurement into feet by multiplying it by If you're not sure how to do this, read about multiplying decimals. Here are some examples. If you want, you can try to do the multiplication on your own and see if you get the right answer:
-1 meter x 3.28 = 3.28 feet
-5 meters x 3.28 = 16.4 feet
-2.7 meters x 3.28 = feet

11. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions? 5
Web Search/Thinking
If we knew the distance of Ponte Vecchio in feet, how could we compare this to meters?
(Possible Search Queries: “how do you convert feet to meters”, “formula to convert feet to meters”).
From
Multiply or divide your measurement by a conversion factor. Because there are 3.28 feet in a meter, take your measurement (in feet) and divide it by 3.28 to convert to meters. You can also multiply your measurement in feet by to get the exact same answer because there are meters in a foot. For instance, let's say we want to know how tall we are in meters. If we're exactly 6 feet tall, we would divide 6/3.28 = 1.83 meters. Note that 6 × gives the same answer.
Don't forget to label your new answer in meters. For rough, on-the-fly calculations, you may want to round your conversion factors to 3.3, 0.3, etc. to make mental math much easier. Use caution, though as these rough values will cause inaccuracies in your results.

12. How would a student in Italy and a student in the United States describe the length of the Ponte Vecchio and what is the mathematical difference between these descriptions?
Students should look up what the distance of Ponte Vecchio is in either meters or feet. (Possible queries: “distance of Ponte Vecchio?”, “how long is Ponte Vecchio”). They should find that the bridge measures roughly either 30 meters or 98 feet. Depending on which unit of measurement students find their answer in, they should then use the formulas they have found (or use an online conversion calculator) in order to describe the bridge’s length in both meters and feet. They should also understand that a student in Italy would most likely use meters to describe its length (Italy uses the metric system) and describe the bridge’s length as 30 meters, but a student in the United States would most likely describe its length in feet (the United States uses imperial units) and describe the bridge’s length as 98 feet.