Converting Units of Measurement Worksheets
Imagine that you wanted to know exactly how tall you were so that you could buy the perfect custom bed to sleep in. You would need some type of measuring tool to determine exactly how long you were. Thankfully there are two different systems of measurement (Metric and US Standard) that fit this exact purpose. Let’s say that you lived in the US and had a tape measure handy. You measured yourself as five feet seven inches. You then go to the stores website which is in England to buy this bed of your dreams. You quickly realize that the store asks for your height in centimeters because in England they follow the metric system. You have the correct measure just not in the same units. Here in lies the problem of having multiple measurement systems. There are simple ways to convert these measures between standard measurement systems. These worksheets and lessons will help you learn how to make these conversions with ease.
Aligned Standard: Grade 5 Measurement and Data - 5.MD.1
- Common Conversions Step-by-step Lesson- We give you some of the most common conversions to work with.
- Guided Lesson - We move these conversions to real world word problems.
- Guided Lesson Explanation - I work with the specific units that come up a lot on tests.
- Practice Worksheet - Start off with a little multiple choice and then finish off with big units to smaller units.
- Unit Conversions Kilo, Milli, Centi 5-Pack - A little drill and kill for your day.
- Unit Conversions (Time and Weight) Five Pack - We work on minutes, seconds, hours, days, pounds, ounces, and tons.
- Metric/English Conversions and Rates Five Pack - These are word problems filled with a measurement root behind it.
- Converting Units of Length, Capacity, Mass (Metric) Five Pack - Straight unit conversion they are all single part units.
- Matching Worksheet - Match the measurement operations to their sum or difference.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Homework Sheets
We balance practice between metric and U.S. Standard units here.
- Homework 1 - 8 feet = _____ inches
- Homework 2 - 12 feet = _____ cm
- Homework 3 - 2 hours = _____ seconds
Practice Worksheets
You should be able to find a full metric section soon.
- Practice 1 - 6 yards = _____ inches
- Practice 2 - 15 km = _____ m
- Practice 3 - 10 kilowatt = _____ watt
Math Skill Quizzes
I'm hoping that you covered gradians and degrees with your students. I did see that on a national exam, you never know.
What Are Standard Units of Measurement?
Units of measurement are important as they provide standards of measuring the same exact quantities and allow us to communicate and share that with others. The foundation of research is built on this. If a laboratory experiment cannot be repeated with the same quantities and the same outcome than the results are pointless. Measurement is used to describe a physical quantity and make that perfectly consistent and accurate.
There are two commonly used system of measurement. The metric system is used by every country in the world except three. Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States are the only countries that have not fully adopted it. The reason is simply time and money. These countries are so invested in other measurement systems that it would cost too much to entirely phase out the others. Think about it, if all your tools of measurement where reading one measure, why switch to another? The United States being a world economic power gets away with using the measure system that it made popular during the industrial revolution fitting called the US Standard System.
Here are some of the standard units of measurement which can help us dictate how heavy, long, warm, or big something is. The standard metric unit of length (distance) is meter symbolized with m. The standard metric unit of mass (weight on Earth) is gram symbolized with g. The standard metric unit of capacity (volume) is liter symbolized with L. The standard metric unit of temperature is degrees Celsius symbolized with C. It is important to note that the abbreviations are not followed by a period. Another thing to be noted here is that none of the letters have been in capital letters except for the liter and Celsius. In the metric system, the basic units are turned into smaller or larger measurements by using some type of prefix which carries specific meaning.
The US Standard of measurement uses different units of measure. For length things are measured in feet and inches unless it really long and then it is measured in yards. Really long distances are measured in miles. Volume is measures in ounces, cups, pints, quarts, and gallons (increasing in that order). Mass is measured in ounces, pounds, and tons.
There are many times that we will need to convert measures between the two systems. This happens on a daily basis when other countries trade with US companies. Here are the common conversion values between these standards:
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