Investigating Measurement (Year 3 & 4)

The focus of this activity is to find out what students know and understand about the different types of measurements, including length, capacity, mass and volume.

Purpose

• Explain what measurement is and why we measure
• Identify the different measurement types
• Develop a definition for each measurement type
• Link the measurement types to their standard unit
• Recognise the different types of units used to measure (standard, uniform, informal units, etc.)
• Identify different measurement instruments
• Recognise the important features of different measurement instruments and explain how they can be used to accurately measure
• Estimate and compare the size of various object

Curriculum Connections:

• Measure, order and compare objects using familiar metric units of length, mass and capacity (ACMMG061)
• Use scaled instruments to measure and compare lengths, masses, capacities and temperatures (ACMMG084)
• Compare objects using familiar metric units of area and volume (ACMMG290)

Questions:

• What is measurement?
• Why do we measure?
• What are the different measurement types?
• Can you develop a definition for the different measurement types?
• What units can we measure in? What is the standard unit for each measurement type?
• What is the difference between standard units, uniform units, uniform informal units, informal units?
• What are the names for the different measurement instruments? What are they for? How can they be used accurately?
• How else can we measure? What if we “run out” of a unit?
• What is iteration? What is important to remember if we are using iteration?

Resources:

Measure Me (template)

For more information, please download the attached lesson plan.