Measurement Teaching Resources
Is your maths class ready to dive into length measurement, measuring objects and more measurement practice? Say hello to printable units of measurement worksheets, games and digital activities created by teachers for teachers!
This collection of teaching resources was created by our expert maths teachers to help students meet Australian Curriculum standards. Each printable and digital download has undergone a rigorous review by the teachers on the Teach Starter team to ensure they’re student-ready — so you can cut down on lesson planning time!
New to teaching this part of the maths curriculum? Our teacher team knows what it’s like to suddenly teach a brand-new year level, so we’ve put together a quick guide to teaching measurement!
What Are the 4 steps of Teaching and Learning Measurement?
Students have to learn a long list of measurement concepts during their time in primary school, including:
- length
- liquid volume
- elapsed time
- mass (weight)
- area
- volume of three-dimensional figures
The good news for teachers: Most measurement concepts have very real-world applications for students. That means there's a whole world of ways to get students excited about reading a ruler or tape measure or weighing heavy objects on a scale.
But before you can get there, let's start with the basic steps to work through when you're teaching students how to measure ... well ... anything!
- Direct Comparison — One of the earliest steps of learning measurement is learning the attributes that are being measured. For example, students need to learn what length is if they're ever going to measure it. That's where direct comparison (and step 2, indirect comparison), come in. If you put 2 objects side by side, students can directly compare which is longer and which is shorter and start to understand how to measure an object.
- Indirect Comparison — What happens when you can't directly compare two objects? You can add a third as a reference point for indirect comparison, thereby increasing student understanding of the attribute being measured.
- Measuring With Non-Standard Units or Informal Units — Just as students need to understand the attribute of measuring, they also need to understand the concept of the units we use to measure such as metres or litres. Using non-standard units is the first step to teaching the concept of units, offering students the chance to work with different objects, counting how many of these 'units' it takes to make up another. This is the fundamental base of measurement.
- Measuring With Standard Units — In the final step of teaching measurement, students move on to using the formal units of measurement and learn to use measurement instruments.
Why Is Teaching Measurement Important?
There are concrete uses for learning measurement that will surely spring to mind — from using a tape measure to measure a space in a home to weighing ingredients when baking to determining the capacity of a juice glass before pouring in the liquid. These are all means for quantifying our environment.
But the benefits of teaching students about measuring lines with a ruler or figuring out mass measurements from largest to smallest go well beyond the obvious. Learning to measure helps students develop spatial and number skills.
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Differentiated Elapsed Time Word Problems Worksheets
Calculate time between events with a set of printable elapsed time worksheets.
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Telling the Time Bingo – Hour and Half-hour
Thirty different bingo cards using analogue clocks.
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Time to the Minute Poke Cards
Practise reading analogue clocks and telling time to the minute with this set of self-checking poke cards.
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Telling Time to the Minute – Memory Game
Practise telling time to the minute with a printable time-to-the-minute game.
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Find the Missing Side Interactive Puzzle
Explore perimeter with missing sides with your students using this interactive digital puzzle.
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Printable Rulers for the Classroom
Excite your students about mastering precise measurements with these printable centimetre rulers.
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Interactive Area Puzzle (Squares and Rectangles)
Find the area of 16 shapes on the board and match the corresponding pieces to reveal a mystery picture.
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Telling Time to the Nearest Five Minutes – Interactive Activities
Read different clock faces to the nearest 5 minutes with two difficulty levels for varied abilities.
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Days of the Week – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine article from the Foundation magazine (Issue 3).
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Which Objects Have Capacity Worksheet
A worksheet to use when exploring the concept of capacity.
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Capacity Maths Investigation - Bath Time at the Farm!
A mathematics investigation involving capacity, embedded in a real-world context.
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Using Units of Measurement Worksheets - Year 1
4 measurement worksheets linked to the Australian Curriculum.
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Mass Maths Investigation - How Much Do We Throw Away?
A mathematics investigation about measuring mass, embedded in a real-world context.
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Time Dominoes - Five Minute Intervals
Practise telling time to the nearest 5 minutes by matching 32 analogue and digital clock dominoes.
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Worksheets on Volume of Rectangular Prisms
Share our worksheets on volume of rectangular prisms with students to give them the practice they need in a fun ‘this’ or ‘that’ format.
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Word Problems for Volume Task Cards
Present these word problems for volume task cards to your students to give them practice solving volume problems with real-world context!
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Heavier or Lighter? Sorting Activity
Sort cards into heavier and lighter headings after looking at the balance scales on each card with this mass sorting activity.
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Heavy vs. Light Roll and Colour Activity
Explore items and decide which is heaviest and lightest in this fun and engaging roll and colour activity.
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Informal Mass Choose and Use Cut and Sort
Learn the concept of informal units of measurement for mass with this choose and use worksheet.
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I Have, Who Has? – Measuring With a Centimetre Ruler
Practise measuring objects using a centimetre ruler while playing this whole-class game.
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Mass Calculations Word Problem Worksheets
Put mass understanding into practise with this set of three word problem worksheets.
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Identifying Units of Measurement Interactive Clip Cards
Identify whether objects should be measured in millimetres, centimetres, metres, or kilometres with interactive drag-and-drop clip cards.
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Estimating Length Task Cards
Use printable Estimating Length Task Cards to practise making estimates of length in metres, centimetres, and millimetres.
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Measuring at the Movies – Informal Units Interactive
Practise measuring with informal units with an exciting movie-themed interactive drag-and-drop activity.
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How Long Does It Take? – Sorting Activity
Identify activities that take about an hour, minute, or second with a sorting activity.
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The Number of Days in Each Month - Colour By Code
Help your students remember the number of days in each month with a colour-by-code worksheet.
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Interactive Days of the Week Maths Game
Introduce your little learners to the days of the week and months of the year with a self-checking interactive Calendar Maths Game.
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Year 2 Analogue Clock Game - Mystery Reveal
Practise telling time to the hour and half-hour with an interactive Telling Time Game for Years 1 & 2.
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Colour By Code Worksheet- Time to 5 Minutes
Practise telling time to the nearest five minutes with a fun Colour By Code worksheet.
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What Can You Do? Year 1 Estimating Time Printables
Help your students understand time increments with a pair of cut-and-paste maths worksheets for year 1.
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Telling Time Printable Games for Year 2
Help your students learn to tell time to the 5 minutes with this set of 6 printable Telling the Time games.
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Estimate the Time - Maths Worksheets for Year 1
Help your students understand and estimate time in seconds and minutes with a trio of Time Estimation maths sheets for year 1.
- Measurement Worksheets
- Measurement Games
- Measurement Posters
- Measurement Templates
- Measurement Teaching Presentations
- Measurement Projects
- Measurement for Preschool/Kindergarten
- Measurement for Foundation Year
- Measurement for Year 1
- Measurement for Year 2
- Measurement for Year 3
- Measurement for Year 4
- Measurement for Year 5
- Measurement for Year 6
- Measurement for Year 7