1) Surveyor's Chain

A surveyor’s chain was made of 100 links with markers every 10 links.  Use these measurements to measure your classroom or hallways or sections of the playground in links, rods, or chains.

Surveyors’ chain:

1 link=7.92 inches

100 links=66 feet, or 4 rods, or 1 chain

1 rod =25 links, or 5 ½ yards, or 16 ½ feet,

10 chains=1 furlong, or 220 yards, or 1/8 mile

8 furlongs =1 mile

A chain man was part of the surveying team.  Two chain men would begin at a marked point (a tree, large rock, or a well or spring) and stretch out the chain.  The man at the marker would then walk past the other man out to the end of the chain again.  That marked two chains, or 132 feet.  Chain men walked the length of the chain over and over to measure miles of boundaries through the forest.