Problem
Change 24 ft 1 in into inches. Each foot is 12 inches, so 24 feet is 24 times 12, then add the extra 1 inch.
Knowing 1 ft = 12 in lets us turn a larger unit into the smaller unit so all three heights share one unit.
4.MD.A.1Analyze The UnitsThe post office's height of 24 ft 1 in is the same length as 289 inches.
The 24 feet alone is 288 inches, because 24 feet is 24 equal groups of 12 inches and 24 groups of 12 makes 288.
Taking 24 equal groups of 12 inches is exactly what 24 times 12 means.
One foot always equals the same fixed 12 inches, so each foot can be renamed as a group of 12 inches.
With the feet rewritten as 288 inches, the whole height is that 288 inches plus the leftover 1 inch, which is 289 inches.
The 288 inches and the 1 inch are the two parts of one height, and since both are now measured in inches they add back to the whole height.
Now every height is in inches: post office 289 in, school 320 in, fire station 267 in.
Writing them in one common unit makes a straight number comparison possible.
2.MD.A.1Make A Systematic ListOrder the inch values 267 ＜ 289 ＜ 320: fire station is shortest, post office next, school tallest.
Once numbers share a unit, ordering them is just comparing whole numbers.
2.MD.A.1Make A Systematic ListMake every height use the same unit first, then it's just Grade 2 'which number is bigger' comparing!