Mathematics
Intermediate
50 mins
Teacher/Student led
Learning Goals
Learning Outcomes
Lesson Files
+90 XP
Teacher-led from the board. Pupils do not need a device, but can follow on one.
What you need:
IWB/Projector/Large Screen
Measuring jug
Weighing scales

Reading Scales and Measuring Instruments Accurately

Learn to read rulers, measuring jugs and weighing scales accurately by working out what each small division is worth, then reading to that precision without parallax error.

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    Your teacher is running this lesson on the board. Here is the part you can try yourself.
    Your written work is on page 53

    1 - Getting Started ~3 mins

    Illustration for Getting StartedHere are three instruments, and on each one the pointer has stopped between two numbered marks: a ruler, a measuring jug and a weighing scale.

    None of them lands neatly on a number. So what is each one actually reading? And how would you work out the little marks that have no number written on them?

    👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

    +5 XP

    2 - Watch and Notice ~10 mins

    The interactive shows a ruler, a measuring jug and two weighing scales in turn. The same trick works every time — count the spaces in one gap, work out what one space is worth, then read the pointer. Watch where each pointer lands and what one small space is worth.

    👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

    +10 XP

    3 - One More Ruler Reading ~5 mins

    Before you go hands-on, let's bring one more ruler reading up on the board and work it through together as a class.

    +10 XP

    4 - Note the Division and the Reading in Your Copy ~2 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    In your maths copy, for each of the four instruments write three things, one under the other:

    • what one small division is worth
    • the reading you get
    • the reading rounded sensibly (for example, to the nearest whole unit)

    Underline the unit on every reading.

    +10 XP
    Pupil practice
    Module 5 · Measures: Length, Area, Volume, Mass and Capacity Measures
    Lesson 57 · Reading Scales and Measuring Instruments Accurately
    Download Activity Book page (PDF)
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