Comparing and converting metric units practice

Students convert one measurement so both sides use the same unit, then compare.

• Length: kilometers, meters, decimeters, centimeters
• Mass: kilograms, grams, centigrams, milligrams
• Capacity: liters, centiliters, milliliters

Every metric conversion is a multiplication or a division by 10, 100 or 1,000. Using a unit fact as a ratio, like 50 grams × 1 kilogram / 1,000 grams, is standard 6.RP.A.3.d; the place value shifts come from 5.MD.A.1.

Print page one and read the worked example together: it shows the whole method on the first comparison.

• Underline the two units and decide which one to convert, usually the larger unit into the smaller one.
• Write both amounts in the same unit, then choose the sign.
• Keep a place value chart from kilo to milli nearby for the first few rows.

Check with page two and ask your child to explain any sign they changed.

• Comparing the numbers, not the amounts: 250 cm looks bigger than 50 meters because 250 is bigger than 50. Convert first.
• Moving the decimal point the wrong way: 7 cg becomes 0.7 mg instead of 70 mg.
• Skipping centi- and deci-: these prefixes are easy to forget on a place value chart, so 50 dm gets compared as if it were 50 m.

Next, try the customary conversions with fractions, then the Celsius and Fahrenheit sheet.