Measurement – Length
Term
Week
Outcome: MES1.1
Describes length and distance using
everyday language and compares lengths
using direct comparison.
Key Ideas:
Identify and describe the attribute of
length.
Compare lengths directly by placing objects
side-by-side and aligning the ends.
Record comparisons informally.
WORKING MATHEMATICALLY OUTCOME/S
Questioning
Asks questions that could be explored using mathematics in relation to Early Stage 1 content.
Applying Strategies
Uses objects, actions, imagery, technology and/or trial and error to explore mathematical
problems.
Communicating
Describes mathematical situations using everyday language, actions, materials, and informal
recordings.
Reasoning
Uses concrete materials and/or pictorial representations to support conclusions.
Reflecting
Links mathematical ideas and makes connections with existing knowledge and understanding in
relation to Early Stage 1 content.
Knowledge and Skills
Working Mathematically
Students learn about
Students learn to
 identifying the attribute of length as
the measure of an object from end to
end
 identify an object that is longer or
shorter than another object eg ‘Find an
object longer than this pencil.’ (Applying
Strategies)
 making and sorting long and short
constructions from concrete materials
 using everyday language to describe
length eg long, short, high, tall, low, the
same
 using comparative language to describe
length eg longer, higher, taller than,
shorter than, lower than, the same as
 describing distance using terms such as
near, far, nearer, further, closer
 comparing lengths directly by placing
objects side-by-side and aligning the
ends
 recording length comparisons informally
by drawing, tracing or cutting and
pasting
 predict whether an object will be longer
or shorter than another object and
explain their prediction
(Reflecting, Reasoning)
 solve simple everyday problems using
problem-solving strategies that include
‘acting it out’
(Applying Strategies)
 explain why the length of a piece of
string remains unchanged if placed in a
straight line or a curve (Communicating,
Reasoning)
 use the attribute of length to make
repeating patterns
 eg
(Applying Strategies, Reflecting)
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
BUILDING
COMPARING
Provide students with a variety of materials, e.g.
sticks, straws, leaves, Lego or Duplo blocks and allow
them to construct and arrange.
Look for and talk about objects that are longer,
shorter, taller, wider, near and far in the classroom
and outside.
TIE, CUT AND DRAW
STARTING POINT
• Cut a length of string into shorter pieces.
• Tie pieces of skipping rope together to make one
length.
• Unroll the garden hose, rope, ball of string,
extension cord, etc to investigate its length. Discuss
whether the length changes when it is unrolled.
• Draw a long line, short line, long straight line, short
curved line, etc.
• Use a painting/drawing program to “draw” thick,
thin, long, straight, curved lines on a computer screen.
SORTING AND NAMING
Compare the heights of two students when both are
standing on the floor and when one is standing on a
chair. Discuss this comparison.
Have a group of students arrange themselves for the
start of a race.
Discuss whether or not they have organised a “fair
start”.
Cut a streamer the same length as a desk. Check to
make sure the streamer extends from one end to the
other along the edge of the desk. Compare other
desks. Repeat for the width of the desks.
• Have students take turns in sorting objects into
categories.
Ensure that a sorting into the categories “long” and
“short” occurs.
• Name and describe objects that are deep, high, long,
thin, etc in the playground, classroom and home. Name
and describe tall, short, etc objects in pictures,
photographs and magazines.
GUESS AND CHECK
GAMES
Blindfold students, place two objects into their hands
and ask questions such as “What is each object?” and
“Which one is longer or shorter, thicker or thinner?”
Play guessing games.
“I am a tall animal with a long neck. What am I?”
“I spy with my little eye something near the door that
is short and thin.”
Games like Hopscotch, Cat and Mouse, Drop the Hanky
and Punchinello helps the student to develop language
related to perimeter and area.
STORIES
Read stories about long and short people and animals.
Encourage students to make up their own stories
which they can combine into class books.
INCIDENTAL ACTIVITIES
Use opportunities that arise during the day to
describe objects as being short, tall, fat, long, thin,
thick, high, low, near and far.
• On an excursion say, “Let’s walk to the tall tree.”
• After a story asks, “What did the witch look like?”
• During a game ask students to throw a ball high.
• Ask students to take three short steps when
dancing.
• Discuss the location of rooms in the school in terms
of whether they are near to or far from the
classroom.
Estimate, which is the longer, a shoe or a pen.
Check by placing the pen alongside the shoe.
SIDE BY SIDE
Compare directly the length or height of two objects
by placing them side-by-side. State which object is
longer or taller?
BLINDFOLD
FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Find a friend taller than you.
Find another friend shorter than you.
“Is there anyone about the same height?”
Show results in a drawing.
Repeat the activity using family members.
LENGTH HUNT
Find objects which are
- taller than this stick
- deeper than this plant pot
- not as long as your pencil
- shorter than your little finger
- about the same length as your eraser
- as narrow as a straw
- as thin as a finger
- as thick as a dictionary
- as wide as a newspaper.
Make a class/group book about these findings. A word
processor and drawing program can be used to publish
a class book about students’ findings.
RIBBON LENGTH
Give students different lengths of ribbon. They must
find objects that are about the same length by
placing the ribbon directly on the object. Repeat for
objects that are longer or shorter than the ribbon.
Resources
Sticks, straws, wood off-cuts, ribbons,
streamers, cardboard, string, dowel sticks,
rods, Lego bricks, Duplo bricks, Unifix,
drawing/painting software, a word processor.
Links
English (Talking and Listening) – Talks about oral
texts using words such as beginning, middle, end; talks
and listens to others in small-group and whole-class
discussions; participates in partner and small group
activities; responds to simple questions.
English (Reading) – Demonstrates emerging awareness
of symbols and conventions when making meaning from
texts.
English (Writing) – Experiments with and practises
ways of representing ideas and information using
written and visual symbols.
Science and Technology – Uses everyday and
comparative language to describe the length of living
things.
PDHPE – Measures and compares length directly during
locomotor activities.
Technology
Language
tall, taller, short, shorter, long, longer, deep, wide,
wider, thick, thicker, thin, thinner, fat, fatter,
straight, straighter, curved, high, close, near, far, low,
lower, high, higher, about the same, as tall as, not as
tall as, length, distance, as long as, not as long as,
height, nearer, further, closer, nearer than, closer to,
closer than, further from
Concepts such as big, tall, long and high are often
confused by young students. Activities that help
students differentiate between these may be
incidental or planned and will need to be done over a
period of time.
Assessment
Ask students to
• compare lengths from the same starting
point, e.g. students choose two streamers of
different lengths and paste them onto a sheet
of paper
• describe objects as being shorter, longer,
wider, deeper, thicker or thinner than another
object
• compare directly the lengths of two objects,
eg by laying one piece of paper on top of
another to see which is wider, narrower or
longer. Observe whether students use the
same starting point.
Evaluation
• Did students discuss their work?
• Did I allow sufficient time to complete the activities?