Can you estimate the weight of a bag of jelly beans, in grams? How about the volume of a gift box, in cubic centimeters? Can you guess how high you can jump, in meters? Or can you estimate how far you can throw a frisbee in centimeters? The third and fourth grade students at RYNJ and their guests can answer all of the above questions in the affirmative, as they participated last week in RYNJ’s annual Metric Math Olympics.

There were 12 stations, including a “Sponge Squeeze,” where students estimated and measured how many milliliters of water were absorbed by a sponge soaked with water; “Weight Lifting,” where students estimated, in kilograms, the weight of bottles of milk filled with sand; the “Curling” station, where students estimated and measured how far they could slide a roll of tape with a broom; and the “Javelin Throw” station, where students threw a javelin (read: pipe cleaner) and estimated and measured, in centimeters, how far they had thrown. Dipping their hands in paint, students enjoyed estimating and measuring how high they could jump at the “High Jump” station, based on their hand print on the wall. The “Measure the Height of the Administrators” station, in centimeters, of course, was quite a hit.

With more than 160 people in attendance in RYNJ’s state-of-the-art gym, the laughs could be heard throughout the night. Led by the Math Enrichment Coordinator, Ms. Daniella Lejtman, the night was an immersive learning experience.