October 10 may be a perfect 10 out of 10 day for teaching about the metric system, but achieving fluency with measurement is a year-long task. October is an opportune time for this essential mathematical learning. While students have been developing their number sense in other areas, now they can work on building a conceptual understanding of measurement units alongside procedural fluency.
The Case for Building “Measurement Sense”
Many students know the phrase “King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk” as a way to complete metric conversions. Yet, many students are unsure whether they should measure their height in meters or kilometers. This example illustrates the difference between conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. Typical measurement lessons often focus exclusively on procedural knowledge, teaching students “the how.” While strategies like the King Henry mnemonic may help students in the short term, conceptual understanding, where students build “the why,” is needed when memory falls short.
- Research by Rittle-Johnson, Carpenter, and Alibali emphasizes the importance of developing a conceptual “feel” for units in conjunction with acquiring procedural skills. By using an iterative process, students can develop an understanding of appropriate benchmark measurements while practicing procedurally.
- One of the eight effective mathematical teaching practices established by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) is to “build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding.” They state that a focus on procedures without understanding is a primary cause of math anxiety and poor academic performance.
- In their textbook Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally, authors Van de Walle, Karp, and Bay-Williams propose a three-phase progression of learning when teaching measurement:
1. Make direct comparisons between two objects. (Example: This book is longer than my pencil.)
2. Measure using nonstandard units. (Example: This book is eight paper clips long.)
3. Measure using standard units. (Example: This book is 20 cm long.)
This progression supports starting with estimation and provides a bridge between a physical quantity and an abstract unit of measurement. - This approach aligns perfectly with the work of mathematician Dr. Jo Boaler, who champions a mathematical mindset that relies on flexible thinking over rote memorization. Students are encouraged to develop their own strategies and utilize visuals to enhance their understanding of the material. Measurement lessons provide excellent content to develop students’ estimation skills and make visual connections to metric units, rather than relying on memorization of their customary conversion factors.
Strategies for Building Measurement Sense
Edtech tools are a powerful way to move beyond worksheets that focus on procedural practice and instead make measurement meaningful and interactive while building a conceptual web of understanding.
- The digital portfolio tool Seesaw (reviewed here) is an excellent option for students to journal and document their measurement explorations. Teachers can design a lesson following the three-phase progression of learning described above, asking students to estimate and then physically measure various objects in the classroom or at home. Students then take pictures of their hands-on actual measurements alongside a written reflection in their Seesaw journal, noting the comparison to their initial visual estimation.
- Create a digital sorting activity in Google Slides (reviewed here) that asks students to group images of items based on which metric measurement would be best to determine their length/mass/volume, depending on the object.
- Have students practice measuring side lengths of virtual manipulatives using Amplify’s Polypad tool. The ruler tool is set to centimeters, which is very user-friendly and keeps the focus on the base unit of length. This activity can be another excellent opportunity for students to practice estimating before actually measuring. Then challenge students to build shapes with specific perimeters by using the draggable corners that allow you to change their size; this will help extend their visual understanding of metric measurements.
- To work on helping students compare metric measures to everyday equivalents in the customary system, engage students in a “Would You Rather” debate with questions such as:
– Would you rather play football on a 100-meter field or a 100-yard field? Why?
– Would you rather buy a 2-liter bottle of soda or a half-gallon of soda? Why?
– Would you rather carry a 5-kilogram backpack or a 10-pound backpack? Why?
Students can share their responses on Padlet (reviewed here) in written, audio, or video format. Encourage students to attach written mathematical work as justification as well. - Consider using an AI tool, such as the “Scenario Based Questions” generator in Eduaide (reviewed here) or the “Math Story Problem” generator in MagicSchool (reviewed here), to develop problem-based tasks that ask students to apply their understanding of metric units to solve. For example, you can give an AI tool a prompt like “Generate a real-world scenario for 6th graders that requires them to estimate the lengths of items and then apply that to find perimeter or area.” Consider posting the resulting problem task on a collaborative whiteboard in Figjam (reviewed here), where student groups can plan and document the steps to solve the problem.
Visit an earlier TeachersFirst Metric Day blog post for more activities and resources related to the metric system!
Ultimately, empowering students to see, manipulate, and apply metric units in ways that build lasting intuition expands measurement from a mathematical domain focused on procedure to one that enhances number sense and reinforces a mathematical mindset throughout the school year.
Share any favorite metric activities you have used with your students in the comments below.