Labeling Representations

[maryinvt]

I am looking over the document “Standards for Mathematical Practice:
Commentary and Elaborations for K–5”. We are having a debate about the following statement: “In using representations, such as pictures, tables, graphs, or diagrams, they use appropriate labels to communicate the meaning of their representation.”

Here’s our question: For a label to be appropriate, would units be required in the representation? For example, if a student were solving a problem in which a rectangle is described as being 12 ft by 30 ft, would their representation of the rectangle need to include ‘feet’ in the label or would just 12 and 30 suffice? If it were simply labeled with the quantities 12 and 30, would this be an example of decontextualizing a situation (as long as it were contextualized later in the solution)?

[Author]

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