Activity B
Below is an informal spoken description of how an electronic caliper is used to measure tree diameter. Read the description and then prepare a set of instructions for its use.
“It’s pretty easy to use. It’s like using a remote control, really. You’ve got three buttons – an arrow up, one down and then a MENU/ENTER button in the middle. So, first you’ve got to select the type of tree you are going to measure. Basically, you press the MENU button until you come to SELECT TREE SPECIES, and then you scroll up and down with the other buttons until you get to the tree species you want. You press ENTER to confirm it. Then, you put the two arms of the caliper either side of the tree at about the level of your chest. You just slide the arms closed or open because it needs to be pretty tight. You’ve got to make sure the arms are straight, and the length of the caliper is also touching the tree. Then you press the ENTER button again and it saves the diameter of the tree in millimeters. You just do the same thing for every tree you measure. Any fool could do it, really.”