Use SI units; bar charts - Teaching Presentation - Year 4

This presentation provides three days of teaching that cover the objectives:

• Weigh in kilograms/grams.
• Convert from kilograms to grams and vice versa.
• Estimate masses/weights and order items by mass/weight.
• Display information on a bar chart.
• Measure mass/weight or length using SI units.
• Display results on a bar chart.

It includes starter activities, whole class teaching, group activities, practice sheets and mastery questions. It can be used on a variety of interactive whiteboards.
Day 1 Teaching
Ask children what units we use to weigh things. Agree kilograms and grams. Remind children that 1000g = 1kg. Pass round packets of food and look at the mass/weight on each packet. Use Measuring scales ITP to practise reading a scale, noting various divisions. Show a loaf of bread/ bag of loose apples. Using the class scales to weigh these items. Record, e.g. 1kg and 300g = 1300g = 1.3kg.

Day 2 Teaching
Show a bag of groceries (around 2kg) and a full PE bag (less than 1kg). Invite children to compare each mass/weight with a 1kg weight, and to make an estimate based on this. Weigh the bags, noting how many kilograms and grams each one weighs. Record in three ways: 2kg and 300g, 2.3kg and 2300g. Weigh a selection of toys and record each mass/weight in a table.

Day 3 Teaching
Today children will carry out their own measuring investigations (length or mass). They can choose what their investigation will be about but it must be simple and answer a question. Give some examples, e.g. Do boys have longer arms than girls? Are apples heavier than bananas? Have a variety of toys, books and other objects for children to use.

This teaching is part of Hamilton’s Year 4 Measures and Data block. Each Hamilton maths block contains a complete set of planning and resources to teach a term’s worth of objectives for one of the National Curriculum for England’s maths areas.