Grade 6 Math: Measurement unit
Students choose and convert metric units for length, mass, capacity and area; measure and draw angles with a protractor, including reflex angles and clockwise and counterclockwise turns; use angle relationships to find unknown angles; work out how much flat space a trapezoid, rhombus, kite or joined-up shape covers by breaking it apart; and use nets to find the surface area of prisms and pyramids. The unit ends with a two-day garden design task.
What's included
- Unit overviewBig ideas, expectations by code, learning goals and success criteria
- Day-by-day calendar17 days planned, including catch-up and review days
- 12 three-part lessonsMinds On, Action and Consolidation, with timings, questions to ask and common mistakes
- Lesson slidesA ready-to-project deck for every lesson: goals, worked examples, discussion questions and exit tickets, with your lesson steps in the speaker notes
- Student worksheets with answer keys131 questions in all, every numeric answer checked by software
- Diagnostic and quick checksA Day 1 diagnostic and 3 quick checks to adjust your teaching
- Performance task and rubric“Garden Corner Makeover”, with a rubric across all four achievement chart categories
- Unit test and answer key51 marks, sorted by achievement chart category
- AccommodationsSupports for students with IEPs, English language learners, and extensions
Look inside
These are real pages from the unit.
Day-by-day calendar
| Day | Lesson or assessment | Expectations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diagnostic and unit launch | |
| 2 | Lesson 1: Choosing metric units | E2.1 |
| 3 | Lesson 2: Converting metric units | E2.1 |
| 4 | Lesson 3: Area units and converting them (then Quick check 1) | E2.1 |
| 5 | Lesson 4: Measuring angles with a protractor | E2.2 |
| 6 | Lesson 5: Constructing angles, reflex angles and turn direction | E2.2 |
| 7 | Lesson 6: Supplementary, complementary and opposite angles | E2.3 |
| 8 | Lesson 7: Angles in triangles and quadrilaterals; exterior angles (then Quick check 2) | E2.3 |
| 9 | Lesson 8: Area of a trapezoid | E2.4 |
| 10 | Lesson 9: Areas of rhombuses, kites and composite shapes | E2.4 |
| 11 | Lesson 10: Nets of prisms and pyramids | E2.5 |
| 12 | Lesson 11: Surface area of prisms | E2.6 |
| 13 | Lesson 12: Surface area of pyramids (then Quick check 3) | E2.6 |
| 14 | Review and catch-up | |
| 15 | Performance task, day 1 | E2.1, E2.2, E2.3, E2.4 |
| 16 | Performance task, day 2 | E2.1, E2.5, E2.6 |
| 17 | Unit test |
Lesson 1: Choosing metric units
Learning goal: We are learning to choose a sensible metric unit for length, area, mass and capacity, and to use prefixes to see how units are related.
Success criteria:
- I can match an attribute (length, area, mass, capacity) to a unit.
- I can explain what kilo-, centi- and milli- tell me.
- I can estimate with benchmarks, such as a doorway being about 2 m high.
Minds On (10 min)
- Show a paper clip, a desk and the school gym. Ask: "Which unit would you use to describe how long each one is, and why?"
- Take answers in mm, cm, m and km and record them on a chart. Point out that the best unit depends on how big the thing is and how exact we need to be.
Action (35 min)
- Build a prefix chart together: kilo (1000 times the base unit), hecto, deca, base unit, deci, centi (one hundredth), milli (one thousandth). Connect it to the place-value chart.
- Benchmarks: students find an object about 1 mm thick, 1 cm wide, 1 m long, 1 g, 1 kg, 1 mL and 1 L in the room and share them.
- Students complete the worksheet in pairs, saying out loud why they chose each unit.
Consolidation (15 min)
- Discuss worksheet question 6: why does measuring in cm give a bigger number than measuring in m?
- Exit: "Name one object you would measure in kilograms and one you would measure in grams, and say why."
Choosing units
Show your thinking in words. Use a benchmark to help you.
- Choose the best unit (mm, cm, m or km) for each: (a) the thickness of a dime, (b) the length of a school hallway, (c) the distance a bus drives in one day, (d) the width of a notebook.
- Choose the best unit (mg, g, kg or t) for the mass of each: (a) a grain of rice, (b) a slice of bread, (c) a Grade 6 student, (d) a loaded transport truck.
- Choose the best unit (mL, L or kL) for the capacity of each: (a) a teaspoon, (b) a bathtub, (c) a backyard swimming pool.
- Choose the best unit (cm², m² or km²) for the area of each: (a) a postage stamp, (b) a classroom floor, (c) the whole province of Nova Scotia.
- How many metres are in 1 kilometre? How many millimetres are in 1 metre?
- You measure the same hallway in metres and then in centimetres. Which measurement is the bigger number? Explain.
- Put these lengths in order from shortest to longest: 0.0025 km, 240 cm, 2600 mm.
- A large jug of milk is labelled 4 mL, 4 L or 4 kL. Which is reasonable? How do you know?
Answer keys with worked steps are in the Teacher Guide.
Performance task: Garden Corner Makeover
The school garden club is rebuilding the corner of the schoolyard. You will work out how much soil, paint and water the project needs and design the layout of the new garden corner.
| Category | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge and Understanding | Uses a formula or conversion only with help and often chooses the wrong measure. | Uses area, angle and conversion facts with some errors; some units are missing or wrong. | Uses area, surface area, angle and metric conversion facts correctly with only small slips. | Uses all facts accurately and flexibly, and shows more than one way to decompose a shape. |
| Thinking | Plans are unclear and steps do not lead to an answer. | Chooses a workable plan for some parts but does not check whether answers make sense. | Chooses and carries out sensible plans for each part and checks answers against the situation. | Plans efficiently, compares methods, and uses checks to find and fix a mistake. |
| Communication | Work is hard to follow; labels and units are mostly missing. | Shows some steps; labels and units appear in places. | Shows clear steps with labels, units and a tidy sketch. | Presents clear, organized work with precise language, units and a sketch that matches the numbers. |
| Application | Cannot connect the measurements to the garden decisions. | Connects some measurements to decisions but the choices are not supported. | Uses measurements to make reasonable decisions (packets, litres, cans) and rounds sensibly. | Uses measurements to make well-supported decisions and explains what rounding and units mean in the real situation. |
Lessons in this unit
- Choosing metric unitsLearning to choose a sensible metric unit for length, area, mass and capacity, and to use prefixes to see how units are related.E2.1
- Converting metric unitsLearning to convert between metric units of length, mass and capacity by multiplying or dividing by 10, 100 or 1000.E2.1
- Area units and converting themLearning to choose area units and to convert between square centimetres, square metres and hectares.E2.1
- Measuring angles with a protractorLearning to measure angles up to 180° with a protractor, using the correct scale.E2.2
- Constructing angles, reflex angles and turn directionLearning to draw angles with a protractor, measure and draw reflex angles, and relate clockwise and counterclockwise turns.E2.2
- Supplementary, complementary and opposite anglesLearning to find unknown angles using angles on a straight line, in a right angle, and where two lines cross.E2.3
- Angles in triangles and quadrilaterals; exterior anglesLearning to use the angle sums of triangles (180°) and quadrilaterals (360°) and to find exterior angles.E2.3
- Area of a trapezoidLearning to find the area of a trapezoid by breaking it into shapes whose areas we know.E2.4
- Areas of rhombuses, kites and composite shapesLearning to find the area of rhombuses, kites and joined-up shapes by cutting them into triangles, rectangles and parallelograms.E2.4
- Nets of prisms and pyramidsLearning to use nets to see how the faces of a prism or pyramid make up its surface area.E2.5
- Surface area of prismsLearning to find the surface area of prisms by finding the area of every face and adding.E2.6
- Surface area of pyramidsLearning to find the surface area of pyramids by adding the area of the base and the triangular faces.E2.6
Ontario curriculum expectations covered
- E2.1
- Measure length, area, mass and capacity with fitting metric units and convert between larger and smaller units.
- E2.2
- Use a protractor to measure and draw angles up to a full turn, and relate clockwise and counterclockwise measures of the same turn.
- E2.3
- Find unknown angles using what is known about straight angles, right angles, opposite angles, and the inside and outside angles of shapes.
- E2.4
- Work out the area of a trapezoid, rhombus, kite or joined-up shape by cutting it into triangles, rectangles and parallelograms.
- E2.5
- Build and use nets to show how the faces of prisms and pyramids relate to surface area.
- E2.6
- Find the surface area of prisms and pyramids by finding the area of each flat face and adding the areas.
Questions about this unit
How long is this unit?
17 school days: 12 lessons plus a diagnostic, a catch-up day, a two-day performance task, a review day and the unit test.
Which expectations does it cover?
E2.1, E2.2, E2.3, E2.4, E2.5, E2.6 from Mathematics (2020), Strand E: Spatial Sense, E2 Measurement (Grade 6).
What format are the files?
Each unit comes as a Teacher Guide and Student Pages, both as editable Word files and print-ready PDFs, plus a PowerPoint deck of lesson slides. The Word files open in Google Docs and the slides open in Google Slides, so you can change anything.
Can I share it with my colleagues?
A single licence is for one teacher's classes. For a grade team, the team licence covers up to 5 teachers at one school for $49.99.
What if it isn't right for my class?
Email help@unitplans.ca within 7 days of buying for a full refund.