What BCPS Parents Need to Know About…
M EASUREMENT
Understanding measurement begins with the ability to compare attributes such as big, little,
heavy, light, tall, short, hot, and cold. When the concept of measurement is introduced, children
measure with nonstandard units such as string, straws, or blocks. Once children understand
measurement with nonstandard units, customary standard units of measure such as inches, feet,
and pounds are introduced. People also measure to determine the weight, height, length, and
width of objects. We also measure area, volume, capacity, temperature, and time.
How You Can Help Your Child at Home
Practice comparing objects by their attributes (characteristics):
1. Have your child sort and compare objects by size, weight, or height:
“The red pencil is shorter than the blue one.”
“Let’s put these three boxes in order from tallest to shortest.”
2. Collect a group of blocks that are the same size. Build two towers of different heights.
Compare the towers. Ask your child, “Which tower is taller?” “How many more blocks are
in the taller tower?” “Which tower has fewer blocks?” “How many fewer?”
3. Include words of comparison in daily conversations with your child. “Which piece of cake is
the biggest?” “Which is longer – the fork or the knife?”
Practice measuring with young children by using nonstandard units of measurement:
1. Have your child measure a rug or the distance from one wall to another by using footsteps as
a nonstandard unit of measure.
2. Use objects such as paper clips or toy blocks to measure an object such as a magazine. Ask
your child, “How many paper clips long is the magazine?”
3. Develop the idea that units of measure are different sizes. For example, help your child
measure the length and width of a book using paper clips. “How many paper clips did we
use?” Now measure the book using crayons. “How many crayons did we use?” “Did we use
more paper clips or crayons?” Talk about the size of a paper clip compared to the size of the
crayon. Emphasize that it takes more of the smaller paper clips to measure the book than the
larger crayons.
Baltimore County Public Schools
Department of Professional Development
Parent Support Services
2/16/2016
BCPS Measurement
Outreach Docs\Content Areas\Math
VSC Math 3.0
Practice measuring by using standard units of measure:
1. Point out tools commonly found around the house that are used for measuring (examples:
scales, cups, rulers, and thermometers).
2.
Familiarize your child with different vocabulary words used in measuring.
 Capacity: cup, pint, quart, liter, gallon
 Length: inch, foot, yard, millimeter, centimeter, meter
 Distance: mile, kilometer
 Temperature: degree, Fahrenheit, Celsius
 Time: seconds, minutes, hours, days
 Weight: ounce, pound
3. Allow your child to experiment with a variety of measurement tools. Discuss the units of
measurement that are used.
 Grocery shopping: ounces, pounds, gallons
 Baking/cooking: teaspoons, cups, temperature
 Outdoor temperature: degrees
 Sewing: inches, yards
 Building/repairs: feet, yards, inches
4. Help your child learn how to tell time in intervals of hours and half-hours using analog and
digital clocks.
5. Help your child learn that we measure time just as we measure other things. The tools used
are watches, clocks, and calendars. Some units of measuring time are seconds, minutes,
hours, days, months, and years.
6. Help your child to recognize time by identifying days of the week and by using terms such as
yesterday, today, tomorrow, morning, afternoon, night, before, and after.
7. Help your child read a calendar to identify days of the week and months of the year. Within
the month of your child’s birthday, ask how much longer it is until his or her birthday.
8. Share with your child the use of a thermometer to measure temperature. Temperature is
measured in degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius. The Fahrenheit scale is used to measure
temperature in the United States.
9. Show your child how heavy certain items are by using the standard unit of weight, which
could be ounces or pounds. A good tool to use to measure how much something weighs is a
scale to measure the number of ounces or pounds.
10. Share with your child how capacity is another standard unit of measurement that is used in
daily activities. Capacity is the amount of liquid a container can hold. Some standard units of
capacity are teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, pint, quart, liter, half-gallon, and gallon. Help your
child explore the volume of containers by observing how much they hold. Allow your child
to engage in water play. Place plastic measuring cups in the tub or sink. “Which of these two
containers holds more water?”
Baltimore County Public Schools
Department of Professional Development
Parent Support Services
2/16/2016
BCPS Measurement
Outreach Docs\Content Areas\Math
VSC Math 3.0