I posted my No Prep Measurement resource back in 2016. After I posted it, I ended up moving grade levels and never had an opportunity to share about this fun collection of activities. This no prep packet is perfect for third grade math teachers.
In this post:
Introduction
It begins with an introduction to measurement with a measurement booklet. Students learn about different measurable attributes such as: length, time, mass, and volume.
Elapsed Time
Students first practice finding elapsed time to the nearest minute by using analog clocks and digital clocks. Then they move to finding elapsed time to the hour, hour and 15 minute interval, and hour and 5 minute interval. Eventually, students find the elapsed time to the nearest hour and minute.
In the elapsed time section, students use clocks to determine what time it will be in a given number of hours or minutes. Students will also work backwards and determine what time it was a given number of hours or minutes ago.
Once the basics are covered, there are more challenging and problem based activities such as completing schedules. Of course, a few games are included to make this challenging skill a little more fun!
Length
The length portion of the resource begins with reading a ruler to the nearest inch. This eventually moves into reading a ruler to the nearest half inch and then the nearest fourth inch.
There are additional measurement activities such as a scavenger hunt. Students find as many objects as they can that measure specific lengths. Students also measure individual items in the classroom to the nearest fourth inch.
Broken rulers or incorrectly used rulers are a great way to challenge students. It’s a great way to see if students truly understand how rulers work. You may need to model this before having students complete this activity independently.
Liquid Volume
In the next portion of the resource, students practice working with liquid volume. Students begin with reading beakers and shading in beakers to reflect a given volume.
Students also use beakers to solve word problems involving liquid volume. Some of the word problems include multi-step word problems, which are always challenging for students.
Mass
Students are introduced to mass with reading digital scales, platform scales, and triple beam scales. The triple beam scales are typically the most challenging for students, but they tend to catch on quickly!
Once students understand the basics, they move into problem solving activities. One activity is when students use algebra (they don’t have to know it’s algebra) to balance scales. It’s a great way to integrate computation and mass measurement. In other activity, students use subtraction to determine how many more grams they need to have one kilogram.
Students also chose the best estimate for various objects, as well as determine which unit of measure is best for different objects. Of course, there are also plenty of word problems included in the mass section of the resource!
Hopefully, these no prep activities will help you out as you teach measurement to your students!
