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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Telling Time - Year 2 Maths Colouring Sheet
Practise telling time to the hour and half hour with a fun Telling Time Colour By Code maths worksheet!
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Volume and Capacity Activity — 'Splash World' Maths Investigation
Use this volume and capacity activity to expose your students to real-world volume applications by letting them design 'Splash World' — their very own waterpark!
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Measuring, Comparing and Ordering Capacity Worksheet
A worksheet that explores the concept of capacity using informal units of measurement.
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Telling Time Maths Mazes - 5 Minutes
Tell time to the nearest five-minute mark and make maths fun with a printable pack of Telling Time maths mazes.
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Measuring Informal Mass Worksheet
Practise measuring items using informal units of measurement with this measuring mass worksheet.
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Reading a Calendar Worksheets
Practise reading a calendar with a pack of printable monthly Calendar Worksheets.
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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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Same Perimeter, Different Area Word Problems – Worksheet
Practise solving multi-step word problems involving objects that have the same perimeter but different areas.
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Area and Perimeter Word Problems
Get students to solve area and perimeter word problems with this set of three worksheets.
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Units of Time and Sequencing Events Teaching Slides — Year 1
Teach units of time with an engaging slide deck that helps students compare durations and sequence events using everyday examples.
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Class Party Planner — Estimating Time Project
Teach estimating time with a real-world class party planning project.
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Comparing Units of Time Sorting Activity
Support students' understanding of duration with this comparing units of time activity.
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Measuring Volume Worksheets
Share these measuring volume worksheets with your students to give them practice finding volume by counting unit cubes.
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Measuring With Informal Units Scavenger Hunt
Explore informal units of measurement and engage your students with an exciting Informal Measurement Scavenger Hunt!
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Elapsed Time Test
Assess your students' abilities to determine elapsed time to the whole, half, and quarter-hour with a printable Elapsed Time Test.
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Elapsed Time Number Search Worksheets
Review how to find elapsed time and practise learned skills with engaging Elapsed Time Number Search worksheets!
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Days of the Week - Months in a Year Word Search Worksheets
Practise reading and spelling the days of the week and months of the year with printable Day and Month Word Search worksheets.
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Telling Time Years 2 & 3 Worksheets
Practise telling time on a clock with a set of 5 printable telling time Year 2 & 3 worksheets.
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Connecting Volume and Capacity Posters
A set of three posters to help with connecting and converting units of volume and capacity.
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Capacity Vocabulary Poster
A poster that explains the concept of capacity and lists associated vocabulary.
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Perimeter Maths Investigation – Design a Garden
Get students to design a garden with this student-centred perimeter project for middle primary students.
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Mass Investigation - How Heavy Are the Objects in Your Classroom?
Explore the mass of objects in the classroom with this mass mathematics investigation embedded in a real-world context.
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Ordering Mass Cut and Paste Worksheets
Assist students in their knowledge of simple mass with these heaviest to lightest cut-and-paste worksheets.
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Informal Mass Scavenger Hunt Worksheets
Practise using balance scales to determine the weight of objects using informal units with these fun scavenger hunt worksheets.
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Choosing Metric Units of Length - Worksheets
Determine which metric unit of measurement should be used to measure objects with a set of Year 3 Maths worksheets.
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Measuring to the Nearest CM and MM Task Cards
Measure items to the nearest centimetre and millimetre with this set of 20 task cards.
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Shorter or Longer? Measurement Comparison Game
Identify what is shorter or longer with an engaging interactive measurement game.
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Measuring in CM and MM Matching Activity
Practise measuring objects to the nearest centimetre and millimetre with this match-up activity.
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Elapsed Time – Worksheet
Practise elapsed time with analog and digital clocks.
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Developing a Timetable Task — Plan a Sports Day
Developing a timetable becomes an exciting real-world challenge with this Sports Day planning project.
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Metric Measurement Conversion Lesson - Teaching Slides
Teach your students conversions of length with our metric measurement conversion lesson that is easy to download and use!
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Year 6 Metric Conversions Practice Sheets - Length
Practise converting, comparing, and ordering metric measurements with a Year 6 Metric Conversions worksheet pack.
- 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