Measure the Lake

Here's an activity to get student's to come to terms with different aspects of measurement. It's called Measure the Lake.

The owner of a lake wants to turn his lake into an ice skating rink in Winter, when the lake freezes into solid ice. In order to begin the preparations in advance, he wanted to take some measurements of the lake during Summer time, while the lake is not yet frozen.



Can you suggest ideas for what measurements he needs in deciding:
1. The number of benches he needs to put down in the seating area;
2. How many barriers to put up around the lake so skaters have somewhere to hold onto when skating;
3. How many people to allow inside the skating rink so it does not get over crowded;
4. How many trucks to hire to carry away the snow that will need to be cleared away each morning;

Please also suggest ideas for what to use in order to obtain these measurements