140 fifth grade students from Butler Elementary school were just one of the four schools to participate in National Weights and Measurements week.
The first weights and measurements law was originally signed in 1799 by President John Adams, which lead to the national week known as “Weights and Measurements Week.”
In honor of this week, stores and schools in Tucson, Yuma and Phoenix participated. Walmart, Albertson’s, Food City and Fry’s paired up with the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures to conduct a hands on learning environment where students put their math skills to the test.
Peter Abbott, the marketing manager for Wal-Mart believes that this is a good way for students to learn how to be more “price conscious” when at the store.
“Today is an education process. We’re working with a school on weights and measures.” Abbott said. “It’s very important that we have everything priced for our customers if they come in. In the state of Arizona, it’s a law that we have our pricing right. So we’re giving back to the community, partnering up with the Weights and Measures group and the city and bringing in the students together to show them how it all works.”
Within these stations, students learned how to correctly read labels on packages, get the chance to scan an item to check the pricing and compare liquid drinks to beakers to compare actual measurements.
“The importance of these stations is that for us, it’s a chunk of what we do for the consumer out there. But at the same time, it hits specific to their curriculum and what it is that they’re learning at this age group. It’s why we’ve specifically assigned these stations,” said Cesar Rodriguez, an Investigator for the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures.
“From this experience I hope they learn that the math they’re learning in class is not just for testing but also to be able to put into every day life and making the better choices when you’re out there to help extend your money and the value of your dollar,” Rodriguez said.