Most middle school students are learning this important math concept. You can help by encouraging your child to measure a model of an object. Then she can compare its size to the real-life object.

Using objects your child can find around the house is a great way to do this. For example, she can measure the arm of a doll then measure her own arm.

If the doll’s arm is about 3 inches and her own arm is about 24 inches, then the ratio of the doll arm to the human arm is 3 to 24, or 1 to 8. That means the real object is eight times as large as the model of the object.

To learn more, have your child use toys of different sizes. Toy cars can be ideal. She can choose one small, one medium, and one large toy car and compare their measurements with the measurements of a real car. From these numbers, she can figure out their size ratios.

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