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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Time Banner
A 3-page banner to use on your 'Time' display board.
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3D Popcorn Box Template
Create a 3D popcorn box from a 2D net.
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Time Zone Locations Around the World Display
A classroom display showing the different time zones around the world and locations which belong within each time zone.
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Measurement Classroom Decoration Pack
A pack of page borders and cut-out decorations for your classroom.
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Volume of 3D Objects Poster
A poster highlighting the formula for finding the volume of common 3D objects.
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Months of the Year Playdough Mats
Use playdough mats to help your students identify, sequence and spell the months of the year.
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Area of a Parallelogram – Match-Up Activity
Calculate the area of parallelograms and match them with their corresponding areas with this match-up activity.
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Wonderings – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine article from the Foundation magazine (Bonus Issue).
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Months of the Year Poster - Northern Hemipshere
A poster displaying the months of the year.
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Interactive Clock for Teaching Time (Analogue and Digital)
Teach time with an interactive digital clock designed to add a hands-on element to this important primary school lesson!
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Time Teaching Resource Pack
A collection of resources exploring time concepts.
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Understanding Time – Year 3 and Year 4 Unit Plan
This numeracy unit addresses telling time to the minute, the relationship between units of time, converting between units of time and using 'am' and 'pm' notation to solve simple time problems.
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Telling the Time Unit Plan - Year 1 and Year 2
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of telling the time to the hour, half hour and quarter hour.
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Applications of Time Unit Plan - Year 5 and Year 6
This Mathematics unit addresses the concepts of 12- and 24-hour time, timetables and timelines.
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Measuring Capacity with Informal Units
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing and ordering capacity using informal units.
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Measuring Length with Informal Units Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing and ordering length using informal units.
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Assessment - Measuring Length with Informal Units
A 30 minute assessment in which students will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of length.
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Reading Timetables
A 60 minute lesson in which students will read and interpret timetables and calculate elapsed time.
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Measuring Mass with Informal Units Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing and ordering mass using informal units.
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Measuring and Comparing Length
A 60 minute lesson in which students will measure and compare lengths of objects using informal units.
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It's About Time
A 60 minute lesson in which students will understand how to tell time to the minute and investigate the relationship between units of time.
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Measuring Area with Informal Units Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing and ordering area using informal units.
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Introduction to Mass
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the concept of mass by comparing and ordering objects.
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Using Balance Scales
A 60 minute lesson in which students will create a set of balance scales for measuring and comparing the masses of objects.
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Learning Time! Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of time for young learners. It focuses on the days of the week, connecting familiar events to particular days and sequencing events in time order.
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Measuring Volume with Informal Units Unit Plan
This Mathematics unit addresses the concept of measuring, comparing and ordering volume using informal units.
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Measuring Length with Dinosaur Footprints
A 60 minute lesson in which students will measure and compare lengths of objects using informal units.
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Reading an Analogue Clock
A 60 minute lesson in which students will understand and recognise the features of the analogue clock.
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Telling the Time to the Quarter Hour (1)
A 60 minute lesson in which students will tell the time to the quarter hour on analogue clocks.
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Mass Investigation - How Heavy Are the Objects in Your Classroom?
A 60 minute lesson in which students will apply knowledge and understanding of mass to a real-world context.
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Comparing and Ordering Mass
A 60 minute lesson in which students will develop the concept of mass by comparing and ordering the masses of objects.
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Length Investigation - The Longest Finger
A 60 minute lesson in which students will apply knowledge and understanding of length to a real-world context.
- Measurement Worksheets
- Measurement Games
- Measurement Posters
- Measurement Projects
- Measurement Templates
- Measurement Teaching Presentations
- 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