RE: The Master Ruler

Recently I received The Master Ruler, an unusual tool used for teaching measurement. I must say this is a very clever and useful device.  The Master Ruler, English, is 12 inches long, just over an inch wide, with 5 layers of light plexi glass attached to  a set of blue coils enabling them to flip.  The Master Ruler Decimal is and 4 layers deep with the same basic design.  The genius behind this product is  the flipping tabs have colored lines denoting measurements, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, for the decimal system, 1mm, 1cm, and 1dm.  The color and the flipping tabs make it very easy to see and teach differing measurements, especially those hard to see 1/16 and 1mms.  This is a difficult ruler to paint a picture of, a glance at the website, http://www.themasterruler.com/, will give you a much better idea of what the ruler looks like and how it functions.

Along with the rulers came a measuring activity book that containing activities for both rulers.  The activities cover basic measurements, mixed numbers, equivalent fractions, area, decimal conversions and other  measuring functions.  There is a good mix of activities for kids of  a wide age range to engage in.  I found with my kids that The Master Ruler lends itself to discovery learning, give the kids the rulers, and the activity book and let them go.  It is a nice alternative to rulers in print and the traditional ones used in the home, the kids really to grasp the break down of the ruler.

This product is a great resource to have around the house, and is a really clever way to teach measurement.  It is very versatility and can be used for simple measurements with younger kids and more complex measurements and conversions with the older ones.  This is a very hands on approach to learning and should appeal to most learning styles, the methodology is straight forward and easy to understand.   The rulers run $9.95 and the workbook $15.95.  Additionally they offer a package deal of the whole shi-bang for $41.25.  Also, note that other products available from this vendor are:  Master Clock, Master Fractions and Master Angles.  This ruler is such a great tool I think the other offerings are worth looking into. 

Members of the TOS Crew received free items for review purposes.