I show and talk about these two basic units for measuring length in the metric system: meters and kilometers.
I illustrate the METER with a line on the board, plus I have it drawn on the floor. I jump a one-meter jump, and then walk half-meter steps. Mathy my mascot tries that too!
Kilometer is 1,000 meters, and children can imagine taking a THOUSAND of those 1-meter steps (or jumps) to visualize this concept.
Lastly we figure out which is the most suitable measuring unit to use — cm, m, or km — for various things, such as the length of a train, around the Earth, a distance between towns, and so on.
If you cannot see the video above, click here for an alternative video player.
Measure length to the nearest centimeter — video lesson
Math Mammoth Measuring 1 — a self-teaching worktext for grades 1-3