Primary Standard:
MAFS.4.MD.1.1: Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; lb, oz; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1,12), (2,24), (3,36)…
MAFS.4.MD.1.2: Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals. Represent fractional quantities of distance and intervals of time using linear models. (See glossary Table 1 and Table 2) (Computational fluency with fractions and decimals is not the goal for students at this grade level.)
Content Knowledge:
4th Grade FSA Reference Sheet – FSA Conversion and Formula Reference sheet that will be provided to 4th grade students when taking the FSA. Students should have access to this reference sheet for all tasks and assessments in this unit.
4th grade students have had experiences in previous grades with selecting and using measuring tools. They have an understanding of basic units of measure, both metric and U.S. customary, related to varied types of measurement. Prior to exploring conversions between units, it is important for students to have a general understanding of the relative size of common units of measure. For example, about how long is a yard? How heavy is a gram?, etc. Concrete experiences in all measurement areas lay the foundation for future measurement investigations.
In this Unit, students explore the connections between units in a measurement system, e.g. inches, feet & yards. This is less about memorizing measurement units (or a procedure) and equivalents and more about using their understanding of operations to find equivalencies. In metric conversions, the focus is on multiplying or dividing by 10. In this Unit, students use multiplication to convert from a greater to a lesser unit using their understanding of equivalence between the greater and lesser units. Using ratio tables helps students organize data as they compare and convert units and leads to insights about the relationship between units.
GCG 1 – Learning Goal: As a mathematician, I can Identify benchmark units and solve problems involving customary measurement conversions
- Step 1: Identify relative sizes of benchmark customary units
- Step 2: Determine unit conversions using customary units of length
- Step 3: Determine unit conversions using customary units of capacity
- Step 4: Determine unit conversions using customary units of weight
GCG 2 – Learning Goal: As a mathematician, I can Identify benchmark units and solve problems involving metric measurement conversions
- Step 1: Identify relative sizes of benchmark metric units
- Step 2: Determine unit conversions using metric units of length
- Step 3: Determine unit conversions using metric units of mass
- Step 4: Determine unit conversions using metric units of volume