Measures of distance
This document aims to give KS2 students an understanding of imperial and
metric measures of distance. By the end of these activities students should
have a good understanding of how distance is measured on both a small
(centimetres or inches) and large (kilometres or miles) scale.
An satellite view of the 12 mile track
(19km) which will be used for the world
record attempt of BLOODHOUND SSC.
Teachers Information
To achieve a recognised world land speed the speed must be measured as an
average over a fixed distance, either 1 mile or 1 kilometre. BLOODHOUND SSC
will measure its land speed record attempt over 1 mile and will aim to average
1000mph. Historically, both metric and imperial measurements have been used
in land speed record attempts depending on the nationality of the team
attempting it. Aside from land speed record attempts, it is important that
students understand both units of measurement as both are still in use and
being able to convert between the two is an important life skill.
Learning Objectives
•
•
•
To have a rough idea of how far various distance measurements are (e.g.
meters, kilometres, feet, miles).
To understand why it is important that standard forms of measurements
are used and why it is always essential to define which unit of
measurement is being used.
To be able to convert a distance between metric and imperial
measurements.
Possible Differentiation
All students should understand that there are metric and imperial units of
distance and should have a rough idea how of far each unit is.
Most students should be able to compare distances measured in different units
and decide which is longer/shorter.
Some students should be able to independently convert distances between
various units of measure.
Key Vocabulary
Mile
Foot
Inch
Kilometre
Meter
Centimetre
Unit
Lesson 1
Measures of length
Length (or distance) measurements are everywhere.
Why are there 2 different ways of measuring length?
Before travel and communication between different countries was easy every
county had their own way of measuring things. In the UK and USA this system
was called the imperial system. This system had units such as miles, feet and
inches but, because it was a system that was sort of invented as it went along,
it was very difficult to work with.
Miles
Feet
Inches
1
= 5280
= 63360
0.0002
=1
= 12
0.00006
= 0.08
=1
In 1668, English bishop John Wilkins, invented a system which was much
easier to understand, called the metric system.
Kilometres
Meters
Centimetres
1
= 1,000
= 100,000
0.001
=1
= 100
0.00001
= 0.01
=1
Nowadays the metric system is officially used in 192 of the 196 countries and
used worldwide in lots of important areas such as medicine and science.
Although most the world now uses the metric system the imperial system is
still used, at least partially, in the UK and the USA.
Because both systems are still in use it is important that you can use both, and
can convert numbers between each system.
It is very important that you know which units you are measuring in! In 1999
NASA lost a spaceship on a trip to Mars because the English scientists involved
in the mission were using imperial units and the NASA team thought the units
were metric. They completely lost the spaceship (it is suspected to have
crashed) and the project had cost $125 million in total!
True/False Class Game
This game tests the current knowledge level of the students on this subject.
For this game the entire class works together as a team (could be done with
the class split into two opposing teams) and tries to get as many correct
answers as possible. The questions are simple true/false questions and are
asked to the whole class who then vote on the correct answer.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
A kilometre is longer than a mile.
There are 100cm in a meter.
There are 10m in a kilometre.
An inch is longer than a centimetre.
There are roughly 3 feet in a meter.
Centimetres, Meters and Kilometres are known collectively as metric
units.
7) An inch is longer than a foot.
8) There are 100 feet in a mile
9) There are 1,610m in a mile.
10) There are 10,000cm is a kilometre.
Main Activity
For this activity students will need a rule that shows both cm and inches.
Shown below is a ruler which, when printed out, will be actual size and can be
used if necessary.
Using your ruler, draw a line 10cm long. Now measure that line in inches.
10cm =
inches
without any more measurements, work out how much 1cm is in inches.
1cm =
inches
There are 100cm in a meter, so how many inches are in 1 meter?
1m =
inches
The next biggest imperial unit after inches is feet. 1 foot = 12 inches.
That means if I have something which is 12 inches long, another way of
describing how long it is would be to say it is 1 foot in length.
How long, in feet, is something which is 24 inches?
24 inches =
feet
Now find different objects in the room which you can measure. Record the size
of your chosen objects in both metric (meters/centimetres) and imperial
(inches/feet) units.
Challenge: Measure the size of an object either in metric or imperial units and
then try to convert the size into the other type of unit without taking any more
measurements.
By now you should be fairly confident measuring in both centimetres and
inches but what about if you wanted to measure something very big, such as
the distance between your school and your home?
Large distances are either measured in kilometres (metric) or miles (imperial).
There are 1000 meters in a kilometre, how many kilometres are there in 3000
meters?
3000m =
km
How many kilometres are there in 7500m?
7500m =
km
A mile is roughly the same as 1600 meters. How many kilometres are there in
1 mile?
1 mile =
km
Plenary
Work is pairs to put the following lengths in order from shortest to longest.
Colour the ones which are metric units in red and the ones which are imperial
units in blue.
It may be easiest for students to do this activity if the table below is printed
and cut out so that they can physically move the measurements into the
correct order. The activity could also be performed on an interactive
whiteboard.
1m
10cm
2km
6ft
20in
1mi
1cm
1in
1ft
50mi
150cm
1km
Extension:
How long does it take you to walk a mile? Use a map to plan a walk which is at
least 1 mile. After school, or at the weekend, ask someone at home to go on
this walk with you and time how long it takes you. How far did you walk in
kilometres?