Lesson 1

Lesson 1: Accuracy and Precision

Focus

When building a house, many people think of building their dream home. There are many costs associated with building a home, which are often dependent on the size, location, and design. Careful planning and effective use of materials must also be considered in the overall expenses. Careless mistakes in planning and measuring not only fill up the landfill with construction waste, but they create additional costs in both time and money—turning your dream home into a money pit. To avoid such costs, accurate measurements and precise measuring instruments must be used when building a house.

In this lesson you will explore the accuracy of measurements and the precision of measuring devices.

Lesson Outcomes

At the end of this lesson you will be able to

• explain why a certain degree of precision and accuracy is required
• explain the difference between precision and accuracy

Lesson Questions

You will investigate the following questions:

• Why is accuracy important in a measurement?
• How does precision play a role in the accuracy of a measurement?

Assessment

Your assessment may be based on a combination of the following tasks:

• completion of the Lesson 1 Assignment (Download the Lesson 1 Assignment and save it in your course folder now.)
• course folder submissions from Try This and Share activities

• additions to Glossary Terms

• work under Project Connection

Self-Check activities are for your own use. You can compare your answers to suggested answers to see if you are on track. If you have difficulty with concepts or calculations, contact your teacher.

Remember that the questions and activities you will encounter provide you with the practice and feedback you need to successfully complete this course. You should complete all questions and place your responses in your course folder. Your teacher may wish to view your work to check on your progress and to see if you need help.