Measuring
Length
mm, cm, m, km
Set up your yellow paper
• Fold on the dotted lines and Cut on the solid lines
(be sure to cut out the top right so “units” shows)
• Label the left three flaps in this order:
▫ Length
▫ Basic Unit
▫ Tools
• Label the right four flaps in this order
▫ mm
▫ cm
▫m
▫ km
What is Length
**Write these under the flaps**
Length: The distance between two points
Basic Unit: The basic unit of measurement for
length and distance is the meter (m).
Tools: When measuring length we use meter
sticks (m and cm) and metric rulers (cm and
mm).
mm, cm, m, and km
• Meters (the basic unit of length and distance)
can be broken down into smaller parts.
• These smaller parts are centimeters (cm) and
millimeters (mm)
• Let’s start with centimeters (cm)…
Centimeters (cm)
are used to
measure small
objects.
This is a
centimeter (cm).
A centimeter (cm)
is about the same
size as one m&m.
Write this under the cm flap:
•
•
•
•
cm= centimeter
These are small
1 regular m&m candy = 1cm
100cm = 1 meter
Write this on the back of the cm
flap:
• *used to measure:
▫ A desk
▫ A shoe
▫ A book
▫ A pencil
We put several centimeters (cm)
together to make a metric ruler.
Like This
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Look at the ruler on your desk. Find
the side with centimeters (cm). This
is what a metric ruler looks like!
Now, we can use this metric ruler
to measure larger objects like
pencils, books, and keyboards.
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How to Use a Metric Ruler:
Looking at the ruler on your desk. Look for the line
farthest to the left. This is the Zero (0) line.
Line up the edge of the object you are measuring
with the Zero line.
Then find the number that matches with the other
end of the object. This is the length of the object
in centimeters (cm).
Zero Line
Lines up with 6 so the crayon is 6 cm long.
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How long is this pencil?
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Did you say 7 centimeters (cm)?
How long is this keyboard?
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Did you say 22 centimeters (cm)?
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How tall is this
stack of books?
Did you say 12
or 13
centimeters
(cm)?
What if we wanted to measure really
small things? If you look very closely
at a centimeter, you’ll see it’s divided
up into ten tiny parts.
Let’s make it bigger to see these
little parts.
Each one of these tiny parts is called a
millimeter.
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There are 10 millimeters in every
centimeter.
Write this under the mm flap:
milimeters (mm) are very, very tiny.
Mm=milimeter
The thickness of about 9 sheets of notebook paper
is equal to 1 milimeter (mm)
There are 10mm in every centimeter (cm).
Write this on the back of the mm flap:
*used to measure
• eraser tips,
• fingernails,
• eye lashes.
What about larger objects? When we
need to measure larger items, we
need to put a lot of centimeters (cm)
together.
Instead of using lots of centimeters
(cm) we measure using meters (m).
To make a meter (m) we need
100 centimeters (cm).
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The metric ruler on your desk is
little more than 30 centimeters
(cm), so we’d need a little more
than 3 of these to make a meter
Use the metric rulers on your desk and
lay them end to end.
Take the meter stick and lay it next to
the metric rulers.
How many metric rulers did it take to
make a meter stick?
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Meters are used to measure things like
tables, rooms, and hallways.
Put this under your m flap
• m = meter
▫ These are larger
• You sitting in a chair is about 1m tall
• 1,000 m = 1 kilometer
Put this on the back of your m flap
*Used to measure:
• A room
• A hallway
• The length of a car
What if you want
to measure
distances between
places that are far
apart like Corona
and Disney World?
That’s a LONG distance!
It would take a LONG TIME
to do it with a meter stick,
wouldn’t it?
To measure long distances with
metrics we use kilometers. To make a
kilometer, it takes 1,000 meters.
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1,000 of these
end to end
would make 1
kilometer.
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61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
The family car is a
great place to see
kilometers.
Chris Cuppett –
Wicomico County,
Maryland
If you look at the speed dial in the car,
you’ll see that the speed of the car
can be seen in two ways, miles per
hour (MPH) and kilometers per hour
(km/h).
Put this under your km flap
• km = kilometer
▫ These are largest
• From CHIS to Pick up Stix next to Albertsons is
about 1km
Put this on the back of your km flap
*Used to measure:
• Very far distances
▫ Corona to Disney World in Florida
▫ Corona to New York
When we write numbers in
metrics, we usually don’t write
out the whole word. There are
shorter names for each unit of
measurement.
Metric Abbreviations
•Millimeter – mm
Pretty
•Centimeter – cm
easy to
•Meter – m
remember,
•Kilometer - km
right?
Let’s review:
To measure
very small
objects and
distances, what
do we use?
To measure
objects like
pencils, what
do we use?
To measure
objects like
rooms or
hallways, what
do we use?
To measure
long distances
like from here
to Disney
World, what do
we use?