Converting units of measure – Year 6 maths lesson
Lesson 21 of 32 in the Year 6 maths course
UK version. UK school years, UK spelling and pounds (£). · US Math Department
A complete 45-minute lesson for Year 6 (ages 10–11) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is marked straight away, with a worked explanation.
- Time
- 45 minutes + 20 min homework
- Year
- Year 6 (ages 10–11)
- You need
- Paper, a pencil and this page
- Marked
- Instantly, with explanations
For parents: how to use this lesson
You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is marked straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to mark anything.
- Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
- Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
- Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
- Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “How do you decide whether to multiply or divide when converting?”
- Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.
Watch out for
- Dividing when you should multiply. Ask: will there be more of the smaller unit? Then multiply.
- Using 100 for every conversion. Learn the facts: 1 km = 1,000 m, but 1 m = 100 cm.
Tip for home: Read food labels and convert grams to kilograms, or millilitres to litres.
What your child will learn
We are learning to convert between units of length, mass and capacity.
Success looks like
- I know how metric units are linked.
- I can convert between units.
- I can solve problems with mixed units.
Key words
- convert
- change to a different unit
- metric
- units based on 10s: metres, grams, litres
- kilo-
- one thousand
- centi-
- one hundredth
What to have ready
- Paper and a pencil
- This page on a computer, tablet or phone
- For the hands-on part: Measure things in centimetres and convert to metres, or weigh food in grams and convert to kilograms.
The big ideas (for the adult)
Metric units are linked by 10, 100 or 1,000: 1 m = 100 cm, 1 kg = 1,000 g, 1 litre = 1,000 ml.
From a bigger unit to a smaller unit, multiply: 3.5 kg = 3,500 g. From a smaller unit to a bigger unit, divide.
Before calculating with measures, make sure they are in the same unit.
The lesson, step by step
| Part | Time | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Starter: quick recall | 5 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Teaching input | 10 min | Not assessed, self-checked |
| Worked examples and guided practice | 9 min | Not assessed, marked by Classfern |
| Independent practice | 15 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Plenary and exit ticket | 6 min | Marked by Classfern, self-checked |
Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are marked by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.
The lesson
It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.
Homework and practice at home
20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all marked instantly.
More practice
More Year 6 maths lessons
- Place value: the value of each digit
- Negative numbers
- Comparing, ordering and writing numbers
- Negative numbers and temperature
- Long multiplication
- Short division
- Long division
- Order of operations
- Factors and multiples
- Prime numbers
- Estimating and checking answers
- Solving word problems
- Adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators
- Multiplying fractions
- Percentages of amounts
- Calculating with decimals
- Rounding decimals
- Adding and subtracting decimals
- Fractions, decimals and percentages
- Comparing and simplifying fractions
- Volume of cuboids
- Missing angles
- Properties of 2-D shapes
- 3-D shapes and nets
- Coordinates
- Line graphs
- Pie charts
- The mean (average)
- Ratio and proportion
- Formulae and equations
- Sequences
Curriculum
National Curriculum for England, Year 6: “solve problems involving the calculation and conversion of units of measure, using decimal notation up to 3 decimal places where appropriate”
National Curriculum for England, Year 6: “use, read, write and convert between standard units, converting measurements of length, mass, volume and time from a smaller unit of measure to a larger unit, and vice versa, using decimal notation to up to 3 decimal places”
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.