Activity 1: The sultanah's measurement units Setting the stage The teacher entered the classroom with a bunch of crowns and told students that they would use them as part of that day's lesson. She started the lesson by telling them a story: Once upon a time, there was a brilliant sultanah in a country. She loved measur- ing things and used various body parts as measuring instruments. She mostly used her fi nger, hand span, and arm as the measure- ment tools. One day, she ordered that every length measurement in her country must be done with her measurement tools, that is, her body parts. But she couldn't go every- where to take the measurements. How could she possibly solve this problem? Students offered several solutions, such as, "Everyone could use their own body parts," and "People could go to the palace and have the measurements taken there." One student sug- gested that the sultanah could draw a picture of her body parts and give it to other people. Connecting to this student's idea, the class To form a basis for standard units, the measuring units were constructed in relation to one another: 1 arm = 5 hand spans, and