The BIGFOOT Measurement & Addition Manipulative

Last year, as a first year high school IT teacher, I assumed that all students were capable of reading a tape measure or ruler. Oh how I was wrong! Not only could my students not read a ruler, they also struggled with basic addition. This is where the BIGFOOT comes in handy!

The BIGFOOT is 12" long so a student can visually see exactly how long a foot is as well as be able to use it as a ruler. If multiple BIGFOOTs are printed off, students can use them to measure objects and use them for basic estimation purposes.

The BIGFOOT also has small holes which allow the INCH PEGS to be inserted into them. These inch pegs actually say the word "INCH" on the bottom of them so there is absolutely no confusion what the measurement is. Students can use these to measure small objects by lining them up one after another. Students can also use these inch pegs to visually see measurement fractions. For example, if there are 6 pegs inserted into the foot the student can visually see that half the foot is taken up which would be 6".

I plan on posting a demonstration video within the next few days as well as posting a version of the BIGFOOT that can be printed in two parts for those of you who have small printers.

Print these out with at least 25% fill. I tried 10% fill and low quality which is why the print looks so rough in the pictures. Please let me know if there are any scaling issues.