Length
🎯 In this topic you will
- Explore length and compare different lengths.
- Use the correct vocabulary for different types of length.
🧠 Key Words
- long
- longer
- longest
- tall
- taller
- tallest
- short
- shorter
- shortest
- thin
- thinner
- thinnest
- wide
- wider
- widest
Show Definitions
- long: Describes something that has a great length from one end to the other.
- longer: Used to compare two objects when one has more length than the other.
- longest: Used to describe the object with the greatest length in a group.
- tall: Describes the vertical height of an object or person.
- taller: Used to compare heights when one object or person has more height than another.
- tallest: Used to describe the greatest height among several objects or people.
- short: Describes something that has a small length or height.
- shorter: Used to compare two objects when one has less length or height than the other.
- shortest: Used to describe the smallest length or height in a group.
- thin: Describes something that has a small width from side to side.
- thinner: Used to compare widths when one object is less wide than another.
- thinnest: Used to describe the smallest width among several objects.
- wide: Describes how much space something covers from side to side.
- wider: Used to compare two objects when one covers more space side to side.
- widest: Used to describe the greatest width in a group of objects.
📏 Measuring Length and Height
We can measure how long things are
or how tall things are.
We can also measure how far apart things are.
Length is the measurement of something from one end to the other.
❓ EXERCISES
1. Draw a ring around the taller animal in each pair.
👀 Show answer
2. How many cubes tall is each character?
Who is taller than Arun? __________________________________
Who is shorter than Marcus? __________________________________
Put the characters in order from shortest to tallest. Label them $1$, $2$, $3$ or $4$.
Now put the characters in order from tallest to shortest. Label them a, b, c or d.
👀 Show answer
3. Talk to your partner.
Use the words taller and shorter to describe objects in your classroom.
👀 Show answer
❓ EXERCISES
4. Which is longer, your foot or your hand? How can you find out? My ______ is longer than my ______.
👀 Show answer
5. Which is shorter, your finger or your nose? How can you find out? My ______ is shorter than my ______.
👀 Show answer
6. Draw your family. Draw them in order from the shortest to the tallest.
👀 Show answer
7. The height of something is how far it is from the bottom to the top. The tree is taller than the flower. Write the word taller or shorter below each object.
👀 Show answer
Tree: taller
Giraffe: taller
Elephant: shorter
8. The length of something is how far it is from one end to the other. The bus is longer than the car. The car is shorter than the bus. Write the word longer or shorter under each picture in the pairs below. Draw 2 different objects. Write longer or shorter under each picture.
👀 Show answer
Cat: shorter
Snake: longer
Worm: shorter
Drawings will vary for the final part.
9. Which river is wider? Tick ✓ the correct answer
Which lollipop is the thinnest? Tick ✓ the correct answer
This is a wide door
Draw a door that is thinner.
👀 Show answer
Thinnest lollipop: the right picture.
Final drawing: a door thinner than the given wide door (answers will vary).
🧠 Think like a Mathematician
Task: Build a tower using coloured blocks chosen by a spinner.
Equipment: Spinner with colours, coloured blocks
Method:
- Use the spinner to choose the block colour.
- Spin the spinner and collect one block of the chosen colour.
- If there is none of that colour left, miss your turn.
- Keep spinning and collecting blocks until all blocks have been used.
- Build your tower as you collect the blocks.
- Compare your tower to see which is taller and which is shorter.
- Put the blocks back on the table and play the game again.
Follow-up Questions:
Show Answers
- 1: The taller tower is the one with more blocks.
- 2: The shorter tower is the one with fewer blocks.