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Measures
Objectives
To measure using rulers marked in centimetres and metres.
To compare measurements.
Resources
Abacus Workbook 1 | Ready-made decimetre strips | 30cm ruler | A strip of paper or piece of string which is a metre long | 📄 Measuring Objects sheet
Extra Challenge: Card or short plank | Toy cars | Books | Sticky notes
Vocabulary
measure | decimetre (dm) | centimetre (cm) | metre (m) | metre | length | width
Today's Lesson
Introduction
Explore a 30cm ruler by asking your student:
- What do you notice about the ruler?
- What markings on it can you see?
- How many centimetres (cm) long is it?
- How many decimetres can we fit along it? (3) Are there any centimetres left over? (No)
Next, show your student a strip of paper or piece of string which is a metre long. Explore this with similar questions as above, plus:
- How many 30cm rulers can we fit along the metre strip? (3) Are there any centimetres left over? (Yes - 10)
Go back to the ruler and find 10cm on it.
Ask, ‘Can you see anything in the room that might be shorter than 10cm long?’ Choose a few objects for them to check and measure.
Access the 📄 Measuring Objects sheet and list your student’s suggestions in the appropriate columns: ‘Less than 0cm’, ‘Between 10cm and 30cm,’ ‘Between 30cm and 100cm’ or ‘Longer than 100cm’.
Ask your student how long their ruler is.
Ask, ‘Can you see anything that might be longer than 10cm but shorter than 30cm?’ Choose a few to measure and record.
Ask, ‘Can you see anything that is longer than your 30cm ruler, but shorter than a metre?’ Choose a few to measure and record.
Ask, ‘Can you see anything longer than 100cm?’ Choose a few to compare against the metre strip and record.
Main Activity
Challenge your student to choose further objects to measure using a ruler or the metre strip.
Encourage them to use the correct piece of equipment for each object. For example, to use a metre strip to measure the height of a chair, but not the length of a rubber!
Challenge your student to draw their own chart to record their measurements.
Extra Challenge
If your student is ready for an extra challenge, try this!
Make a short ramp from a piece of card or a short plank, propped up on some books.
Say, ‘We’re going to roll cars down this ramp, and measure how far they travel across the floor at the bottom!’
Demonstrate this with one car, asking your student to estimate how far they think the car will roll and then to use the decimetre strips to measure the distance. Count in 10s and 1s to find the distance in cm.
If the distance is more than 100cm, show how to use the metre strip. Write the distance in cm on a sticky note and stick it to the car.
Then take a second car.
Ask, ‘Do you think this car will roll further or not? How far do you think it might roll?’
Ask your student to estimate how far they think it will travel, then they can let it go at the top of the ramp and measure the distance it rolls.
Ask, ‘Did this car roll further? How much further?’ Write the distance rolled on a sticky note and stick it to the car.
Repeat with each car. Your student should then arrange the cars in order according to distances they rolled.
Workbook
To help your student consolidate their learning from today, please ask them to complete the activities on page 49 of Abacus Workbook 1.