The students in first grade began the new year by thinking about long ago. Teachers explained that for centuries, people used their bodies and parts of their bodies as units of measurement. Children worked in partnerships to measure objects in the room using non-standard units such as finger widths, hand spans, paces, forearms, arm spans, and feet. They discussed how gaps between a unit cause inaccuracy, and that close attention should be given to marking the end of the unit in order to know where the next will begin. The book, How Big is a Foot? by Rolf Myller, helped children apply their understanding of why a standard unit of measurement is best.