Grade 1 · Unit 5: Using units of measurement

Length

Longer or shorter? Measure to find out.

Long and short

A boat can be longer than a rickshaw. A pencil is shorter than a ruler. Length tells us how long something is.

Compare by lining up

To compare, line things up at one end. The ruler is the longest. The crayon is the shortest.

Measuring with units

We can measure with cubes, paper clips or hand spans. Place the units end to end with no gaps. Count them: the pencil is 7 units long.

Why use the same unit?

Dad measured the table: 6 hand spans. I measured it: 9 hand spans! Hands are different sizes, so we use the same unit, like centimetres.

What I learnt

• I can compare lengths using longer and shorter.
• I can measure length with units.