Five pages about how units of length fit together. Page 1 shows that a foot ruler is 12 inches long, lays four rulers end to end with jumps of 12 to fill in a table of feet and inches, then asks how long six objects on a ruler are and how many more inches make 1 foot. Page 2 shows that a yardstick is as long as 3 foot rulers, or 36 inches, fills in a table of yards and feet with jumps of 3, and has students circle groups of 3 rulers to find yards. Page 3 builds a meter stick from 10 rods of 10 centimeters, fills in a table of meters and centimeters with jumps of 100, asks which is longer, such as 1 meter or 90 centimeters, and counts rods to find how many more centimeters make 1 meter. Page 4 asks which unit is better for measuring eight everyday things, from a paper clip to a soccer field, then has students estimate by circling the better guess, such as about 7 inches or about 7 feet for a pencil. Page 5 has missing numbers, comparisons with >, < and =, one ribbon measured in yards, feet and inches to show that the bigger the unit, the fewer of them you need, and a word problem.
Before page 1, pass around a real foot ruler, a yardstick and a meter stick, and line up three foot rulers along the yardstick so students see they match. Remind students that the pictures are smaller than real size. For page 4, hold up a paper clip and point to the door, and ask which you would measure in inches and which in feet. Make a class chart of things about 1 inch, 1 foot, 1 yard and 1 meter long.
Hunt for things about 1 foot long (a sheet of paper, a shoe for a grown-up) and about 1 yard or 1 meter long (a big step, a guitar). Guess how long the couch or the hallway is in feet, then check with a tape measure. Ask why the number of inches is always bigger than the number of feet for the same thing.
This pack supports the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:
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A 5-page units of length pack for 2nd grade. See that 12 inches make 1 foot, 3 feet make 1 yard and 100 centimeters make 1 meter: lay rulers, yardsticks and meter sticks end to end and skip count by 12, 3 and 100 to fill in tables, find how many more inches make a foot, circle groups of 3 rulers to find yards, and pick the longer of meters and centimeters. Then choose the better unit for everyday things, estimate lengths by circling the better guess, compare lengths in different units with >, < and =, see that the bigger the unit, the fewer of them you need, and solve a word problem. Every page comes in color and in black and white. Answer keys included.
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