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  • Measuring Up: How Oliver Smoot Became a Standard Unit of Measurement by Jenny Lacika book cover
  • Measuring Up: How Oliver Smoot Became a Standard Unit of Measurement by Jenny Lacika book cover
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Measuring Up: How Oliver Smoot Became a Standard Unit of Measurement

by Jenny Lacika

A playful introduction to unusual measurement

$17.09 USD
$28.49 USD $17.09 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

A playful introduction to unusual measurement

Oliver Smoot’s role in measuring a bridge becomes an entry point to nonstandard units and the way measurement can be explored through everyday play. Jenny Lacika’s picture-book account connects a real MIT prank with the creation of the “smoot,” while Anna Bron’s illustrations bring the college students’ undertaking to life. Back matter adds information about smoots, MIT pranks and unusual measurements, along with further reading, extending the book’s look at mathematics beyond the central story.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Children ages 4–8 exploring basic ideas about measurement
  • Young readers interested in unusual units, real-life anecdotes or MIT pranks
  • Adults seeking an illustrated nonfiction read-aloud about mathematics

Themes

Measurement and nonstandard unitsMathematics in everyday lifePranks and playful learning

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Could you be the next smoot? One MIT student's diminutive height becomes his mathematical superpower--and claim to fame--in a true story that's entertaining and inspiring in equal measure.

When the five-foot-seven-inch Oliver Smoot and his friends at MIT decided to play a practical joke, he drew the short straw--and was selected to be the measurement device to carry it out. The task? Measuring the length of a bridge, one lying-down Oliver Smoot at a time. Author Jenny Lacika playfully introduces the idea of nonstandard measurement in this story about the creation of a new unit: the smoot. Anna Bron captures the hijinks of college kids having some fun, getting into trouble, and in the end, making math history. Measuring Up invites readers over to the sillier side of mathematics and encourages them to play with measurement in their own lives. As for the smoot? This unorthodox unit of measure is now cemented into history, in sidewalk markings on a certain Cambridge-to-Boston bridge. Find out more about smoots, MIT pranks, unusual measurements, and further reading in the back matter.
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