Explain why standard units of measure are needed

I can measure length in any direction to give height, length and distance.

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Year 2

Explain why standard units of measure are needed

I can measure length in any direction to give height, length and distance.

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Share activities with pupils

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Lesson details

Key learning points

If we all choose our own way to measure, we will end up with different measurements of the same thing.
When you use the same unit of measure, you will get the same result.
Standard units of measure are useful because they are always the same size and do not change.
Centimetres are an example of a standard unit.

Keywords

Unit of measure - Something used as a standard of measurement. It is '1' of the measurement.
Standard unit - Uniform units of measure that are agreed throughout a community.

Common misconception

Children may think that the same type of object, for example a pencil, can be used as a unit of measure, even when they are different lengths.

Read the story of Pedro's birthday quest again and discuss why the friends using their own footsteps for measuring led to them getting different results.

The phrase 'how heavy' is used throughout this lesson since children have not been introduced to the concept of mass yet. This lesson uses balances to build on children's EYFS experiences.

Teacher tip

Licence

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