Year 3 - Measurement
New Curriculum
- measure, compare, add and subtract: lengths (m/cm/mm); mass (kg/g); volume/capacity (l/ml)
- measure the perimeter of simple 2-D shapes
- add and subtract amounts of money to give change, using both £ and p in practical contexts
- tell and write the time from an analogue clock, including using Roman numerals from I to XII, and 12-hour and 24-hour clocks
- estimate and read time with increasing accuracy to the nearest minute; record and compare time in terms of seconds, minutes and hours; use vocabulary such as o’clock, a.m./p.m., morning, afternoon, noon and midnight
- know the number of seconds in a minute and the number of days in each month, year and leap year
- compare durations of events [for example to calculate the time taken by particular events or tasks].
Non-Statutory Guidance
Pupils continue to measure using the appropriate tools and units, progressing to using a wider range of measures, including comparing and using mixed units (e.g. 1kg and 200g) and simples equivalents of mixed units (e.g. 5m = 500cm).
The comparison of measures should also include simple scaling by integers (e.g. a given quantity or measure is twice as long or five times as high) and this connects to multiplication.
Pupils continue to become fluent in recognising the value of coins, by adding and subtracting amounts, including mixed units and giving change using manageable amounts. They record £ and p separately. The decimal recording of money is introduced formally in year 4.
Pupils use both analogue and digital 12-hour clocks and record their times. In this way they become fluent in and prepared for using digital 24-hour clocks in year 4.
Links and Resources
| Programme of Study statement | Activity | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | C | D | |
| measure, compare, add and subtract: lengths (m/cm/mm); mass (kg/g); volume/capacity (l/m) | ||||
| measure the perimeter of simple 2-D shapes | ||||
| add and subtract amounts of money to give change, using both £ and p in practical contexts | ||||
| tell and write the time from an analogue clock, including Roman numerals from I to XII, and 12-hour and 24-hour clocks | ||||
| estimate and read time with increasing accuracy to the nearest minute, record and compare time in terms of seconds, minutes, hours and o’clock; use vocabulary such as a.m./p.m., morning, afternoon, noon and midnight | ||||
| know the number of seconds in a minute and the number of days in each month, year and leap year | ||||
| compare durations of events [for example to calculate the time taken by particular events or tasks]. | ||||
Activity set A
- This is a simple but effective way to practise estimating, measuring and comparing lengths: give each learner a small piece of plasticine or modelling clay. They work in groups of about four. Give them 30 seconds to roll the longest worm that they can. As a group, they order the worms from shortest to longest. They then estimate the length of the shortest worm and once they have, they measure it. They use this knowledge to estimate the length of the next worm and then measure it. They continue to do this for all the worms. They can then find the differences in length between their worms and also add pairs of their lengths together.
Resources required: plasticine or modelling clay
- You could adapt this mass investigation from Nrich. You could set this up for the learners to work on practically with balance scales.
Resources required: balance scales
- This Nrich investigation involves capacity:
There are 4 jugs which hold 9 litres, 7 litres, 4 litres and 2 litres. Find a way to pour 9 litres of drink from one jug to another until you are left with exactly 3 litres in three of the jugs.
Activity B - Perimeter
- Give the children a piece of squared paper and ask them to draw a variety of shapes by shading sets of 5 squares. They then find their perimeters.
Resources required: centimetre squared paper
- This Smaller and smaller investigation from Nrich asks the learners to predict, without drawing, the perimeters of shapes in a pattern.
Activity C – Add and subtract amounts of money
- Set problems that involve finding totals and change. For example: Mike spent 76p on a bar of chocolate and £1.35 on a packet of biscuits. How could he have paid for them using the least number of coins? If he had a £5 note, how much change will he need?
Resources required: coins
- Make a collection of take-away menus and store catalogues (particularly those that include toys). The children can use these to make up meals, wish lists for birthdays and so on to practice finding totals and amounts left from a given budget.
Resources required: take-away menus, store catalogues
Activity D – Time
- Give learners sets of digit cards. They pick three and make up as many times as they can using their cards. They then draw their times on analogue clock faces and label them with the 12-hour and 24-hour times.
Resources required: digit cards, pre-prepared analogue clock faces without hands
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The ‘Two Clocks’ investigation from Nrich asks the learners to find the times on a clock with no minute hand and to solve problems involving a clock with no hour hand!
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‘Just a minute’ type activities for practising the vocabulary of time (or any other concept) are fun and the learners really enjoy playing them. Write the words that you wish to practice on pieces of paper or card. Pile the words together and then, taking one at a time, give the meaning of each (without saying the word) How many do the learners successfully guess in one minute. Repeat this a few times. Ensure you begin with the words they guessed correctly – to build on their success. Do they improve their score? You could also do this in mixed ability groups with the most confident learner taking the first turn.
Resources required: vocabulary cards for the words you wish the learners to focus on
- Give the children practice sessions where they use their mental calculation skills of, for example, addition, subtraction, multiplication, doubling and halving to deduce new information:
You could repeat this for days in different numbers of weeks, months in different numbers of years and so on.
- You could adapt this investigation from Nrich which asks:
During the third hour after midnight the hands on a clock pointed in the same direction (so one hand was over the top of the other). At what time, to the nearest second, did this happen?
For Roman Numerals this interactive clock can be set to display Roman numerals for a variety of ‘Time’ activities.
Examples of what children should be able to do, in relation to each (boxed) Programme of Study statement
measure, compare, add and subtract: lengths (m/cm/mm); mass (kg/g); volume/capacity (l/m)
Children should be able to:
Length: Show something that they think is just shorter/longer than a metre/centimetre/millimetre. They should be able to check whether they are right.
Mass: Say which object in the classroom is heavier than 100 g/kilogram/half-kilogram and know how to check if they are correct.
Read scales such as this:
Capacity: Find a container that they think would hold one litre and check to find out if they were correct.
General: Say what each division on this scale is worth and explain how they worked this out.
measure the perimeter of simple 2-D shapes
Children should be able to:
Measure the sides of regular polygons in centimetres and millimetres and find their perimeters in centimetres and millimetres?
add and subtract amounts of money to give change, using both £ and p in practical contexts
Children should be able to:
Solve problems like this:
- Jake wants to buy a comic that costs £1. He saves 25p one week and 40p the next. How much more money does he need to buy the comic?
- Add these prices: £6.73, £9.10 and £7.00 to find the total. Find out how much they need to add to get £23?
tell and write the time from an analogue clock, including Roman numerals from I to XII, and 12-hour and 24-hour clocks How would this time appear on a 12-hour digital clock?
Children should be able to:
Read times like this in analogue and digital formats, including those with Roman numerals.
Solve problems such as: Ben’s clock says 7:50 when he gets up. Place the hands on this clock to show this time.
estimate and read time with increasing accuracy to the nearest minute, record and compare time in terms of seconds, minutes, hours and o’clock; use vocabulary such as a.m./p.m., morning, afternoon, noon and midnight
Children should be able to:
Solve problems such as:
- Kevin leaves home at quarter past 8 and arrives in school at 20 to 9. How long is his journey? How did you work this out?
- How long is it between the times shown on these two clocks? How did you work it out?(oral question)
know the number of seconds in a minute and the number of days in each month, year and leap year
Children should be able to:
Solve problems such as: Milly uses a stop-watch to time her cat eating its breakfast one morning. The reading on the stop-watch, once the cat had finished eating, says 135 seconds. Can you convert this into minutes and seconds?
compare durations of events, for example to calculate the time taken by particular events or tasks
Children should be able to:
Solve problems such as:
- Estimate how long your favourite TV programme lasts. Use a television guide to work out how close your estimation was.
- It takes 35 minutes to walk from home to school. I need to be there by 8.55 am. What time do I need to leave home?
- How much does it cost to hire a rowing boat for three hours?
- Sasha pays £3.00 to hire a motor boat. She goes out at 3:20 pm. By what time must she return? Explain how you solved this problem. Could you have done it in a different way?
- Sally and Maria both went to the gym on Saturday. Sally was there from 2 pm until 3.30pm. Maria was there from 12.30 pm until 3.15 pm. Who spent the longer time at the gym? How much longer was she there than her friend?
