Estimating Length Worksheets
How to Estimate Length? Estimating means you work something out roughly. A good way of estimating a length is to measure it with part of your body: - for short lengths try your hand span. - for something a bit longer, try using the length of your feet. - for something even longer try using your arm span or steps. Want to measure length accurately? To measure something accurately you should use standard units. You should use different units for different lengths: - millimeters (mm) are good for very small lengths - like the width of a pencil or your finger. - centimeters (cm) are good for something a bit longer - like the length of a pencil or a book. - meters (m) are good for something even longer - like the width of a room or the length of building. - kilometers (km) are good for longer distances - like the distance between home and school, or between different towns. You should use proper instruments to measure accurately, like a ruler, tape measure, meter stick or trundle wheel.
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Basic Lesson
Introduces the use of pictures to approximate length. Also includes practice problems. Visualize the picture and mark the option most appropriate to the picture in reality.
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Independent Practice 1
Students practice with 20 quick length estimations problems. The answers can be found below. Circle the approximate length.
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Independent Practice 2
This practice sheet of 20 problems use more everyday items. The answers can be found below.
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Homework Worksheet
Provides detailed rulers. Ask students to visualize length. Also touches on the proper use of units.
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Independent Practice 1
Contains 3 estimating length practice problems. The answers can be found below.
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Independent Practice 2
Features 3 estimating length practice problems. The answers can be found below.
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Homework Worksheet
Provides detailed rulers. Ask students to visualize length. Also touches on the proper use of units.
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How to Visually Estimate Length
The best practice of getting better at the visual estimation of length is to keep on measuring the lengths of different objects with different measurement tools. For example, if you keep on using the meter rule to measure different objects of different lengths, it will make you more familiar with using a meter rule and the length of magnitude equal to 1 meter. Once you have practiced measuring objects with different measuring tools enough, you will start having an idea of how long something is. After getting familiar with different lengths and their magnitudes expressed in different units, you can easily start estimating the values of different lengths. For example, you can give an estimate of the length of a table corner just by looking at it. Or you can easily tell the magnitude of dimensions of a room in sq ft. or meter square just by having an observation.
Think About It!
What has a foot at each end and a foot in the middle?
A yardstick
What is measured by the yard but worn by the feet? A carpet.
To find the area of a rectangle, you measure the base (one side) by the
height (another side). This gives you the square yardage necessary to carpet
the room.