Converting units worksheets
Aligned with Common Core 4.MD.A.1
Printable fourth-grade converting units worksheets and how-to teaching pages: conversion tables, length, weight and mass, liquid volume, time and elapsed time, and measurement word problems.
The worksheets
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How to Convert Units
Changing 3 feet to inches with a conversion table, the facts to know for length, weight, liquid volume and time, and mixed units like 2 ft 5 in.
Conversion Tables
Two-column tables like feet and inches or hours and minutes to finish. Fewer gives the first two rows, and More starts at bigger numbers.
Convert Length
Changing km to m, m to cm, yd to ft and in, and ft to in. More adds mixed units like 2 ft 5 in.
Convert Weight and Mass
Changing pounds to ounces and kilograms to grams. More adds mixed units like 3 lb 5 oz.
Convert Liquid Volume
Changing gallons to quarts, quarts to pints, pints to cups and liters to milliliters. More adds mixed units.
Convert Time
Changing weeks, days, hours and minutes to smaller units, plus elapsed time problems with start and end times. More adds mixed units.
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How to Solve Measurement Word Problems
A time story and a liquid volume story worked out with bar pictures, changing hours to minutes and liters to milliliters first.
Measurement Word Problems
Stories about time, lemonade, rope, pets, races, apples, savings and ribbon, with a work space and an answer box.
Print the whole packet
One copy of every sheet above, in order. Tap + for more copies (up to 10).
For the parent or teacher
What it is
Fourth graders change a measurement in a bigger unit to a smaller unit in the same system, like 3 feet = 36 inches or 2 kilograms = 2,000 grams. Because 1 foot is 12 inches, they multiply the number of feet by 12. They fill in two-column conversion tables, work with mixed units like 2 ft 5 in, and solve word problems about distance, time, liquid volume, mass and money.
What comes next
Area and perimeter, which use lengths and the four operations.
How to teach it
- Start with real objects. Measure a 1-foot ruler in inches, or pour a liter into milliliter cups.
- Build a conversion table together, adding the same amount for each row.
- Remind your child that a bigger unit means a smaller number, and a smaller unit means a bigger number.
- For mixed units, change the big part first, then add the small part.
- In word problems, change everything to the same unit before adding or subtracting.
Common mistakes
- Dividing instead of multiplying when changing to a smaller unit.
- Using the wrong number, like 10 inches in a foot or 100 minutes in an hour.
- Forgetting to add the extra small units, like writing 24 instead of 29 for 2 ft 5 in.
- Adding measurements with different units, like 1 hr + 30 min = 31.