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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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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Volume with Unit Cubes – Worksheet
Use this worksheet to reinforce how to find the volume of a rectangular prism by counting the number of unit cubes.
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Mixed Perimeter Word Problems Worksheet
Use this perimeter word problems worksheet to give your students practice calculating the perimeter of shapes.
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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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Measuring My Body – Length Worksheet
Explore linear measurement with an engaging collaborative activity where students measure different body parts and compare them.
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Elapsed Time – Worksheet
A worksheet for students to practise calculating elapsed time.
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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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Which Holds More? – Interactive PowerPoint
An interactive PowerPoint quiz that asks students to compare the capacity of various containers.
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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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Time Maths Investigation - The Sands of Time
A mathematics investigation about measuring time, embedded in a real-world context.
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When Does It Happen? Worksheet
A cut and paste activity where students order familiar daily events.
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Visualising Quarter Turns — Worksheet
Help Year 2 students master quarter turns with this two-page worksheet.
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Time Machine Match-Up Activity
A fun sorting activity that consolidates knowledge of time to the hour, half-hour and to the quarter-hour.
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Informal Units Rulers
Use printable informal measuring rulers to introduce your little learners to the world of measurement.
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Which Objects Have Capacity Worksheet
A worksheet to use when exploring the concept of capacity.
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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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24-Hour Time Poster
A poster showing 24-hour time and how it correlates with am/pm.
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3D Popcorn Box Template
Create a 3D popcorn box from a 2D net.
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Time After Time Mathematics PowerPoint
Introduce your students to the history of the clock, time zones, and telling time with an interactive teaching presentation.
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Time Zones World Map
A poster to display in the classroom to show the different time zones of the world.
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Clock Template
A clock that can be used for games or direct teaching.
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Telling Time - Year 2 Maths Test
Administer a Telling Time Maths Test to determine mastery of year 2 clock reading skills.
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Concepts of Time Assessment - Year 5 and Year 6
Assess your students' knowledge of elapsed time, reading schedules, converting 12 and 24-hour time and reading timelines with a Concepts of Time Test.
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Analogue Time to the Quarter Hour
A worksheet to use when teaching analogue times in o'clock, half past and quarter past/to.
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Analogue Time to the Half Hour – Worksheets
Practise telling time to the half-hour with a fun set of printable Telling Time Worksheets for Grade 1.
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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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Measuring the Area of a Robot with Informal Units Worksheet
A worksheet to use when measuring area with informal square units.
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Capacity Worksheet
A worksheet to use when exploring the concept of capacity.
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Area of 2D Shapes Posters
Area of 2D Shapes - so many rules and formulas to remember!
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Rounding to Estimate Worksheet Set
Use our rounding to estimate worksheet set to sharpen number sense and mental maths skills.
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Estimation Activity - Estimating Space Worksheet Set
Use estimation activities like this estimating space worksheet set to give your students practice estimating, converting measurements and problem solving.
- 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