SATs advice: measuring and estimating

Children will be tested on measures in their Mathematics SATs paper.

• Usually this will involve having to read a measurement on a picture of a measuring cylinder, weighing scales or ruler.
• They may be asked which unit of measurement is appropriate for measuring a certain object (for example, they may be asked whether they should measure the length of a book in kg, litres or cm).
• They may need to solve a problem which involves conversion of units (for example, they may be asked how much heavier 1.2kg is than 800g).

For example:

• To measure the height of a chair they might use their hand span.
• To measure the length of a book they might use interlinking cubes.
• To measure some liquid they might use a small cup, so for example, they might say: 'This jug has 3 cupfuls of water in it, but this jug has 6 cupfuls of water in it.' 
• When measuring weight, children are often given a lever balance, which is a basic kind of weighing scales, where an object is put on one side and items used to measure it on the other (this might be blocks or 1p coins).

You can help children with this at home, by getting them to measure various items with non-standard units.

For example, you could ask them to look at three items of furniture in your living room: the sofa, a chair and a table.

• Ask them which one they think is tallest.
• Ask them to write the names of the three items of furniture down and then find an object to measure them with (a piece of card or a book).  
• Encourage them to write down how tall each item is next to the name (for example: '3 books tall'). It is important that they get into the habit of recording measurements so that they realise that you need this written record to refer to when talking about what you have found out.
• Ask them which piece of furniture was the shortest and which was the tallest.

You could then move onto estimating. Give them a jug full of water and a small plastic cup. Ask them to estimate how many plastic cupfuls of water they think there are in the jug. Encourage them to pour out the water into the cupfuls (and then out into another container) counting as they go. Ask them to compare the measurement with the estimate and look at how close they were to getting it right.

By Year 2, children will be using standard units for measuring (metres, centimetres, kilograms and litres).

This is a fun activity to help with learning about units of measurement. After you have gone shopping, get them to spread the contents of the shopping bag out onto the table. 

• Ask them to sort the pile of shopping into liquids and solids. 
• Explain to them that liquids are measured in litres. If you can, show them something that contains one litre of liquid. 
• Show them other items full of liquid and ask them if they think they contain more or less than one litre of liquid. 
• Now get them to hold something that weighs one kilogram. See if they can work out, by picking up other items, which weigh less than one kilogram and which weigh more.