Measurement Word Problems (Grade 4)

Videos, examples, solutions, and lessons to help Grade 4 students learn to use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams such as number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.

Common Core: 4.MD.2

Suggested Learning Targets

I can use +, -, ×, and ÷ to solve word problems.
I can solve measurement word problems that include whole numbers, fractions, and decimals.
I can convert larger units into equivalent smaller units to solve a problem.

Distances and Masses of Objects Instructional Video (4.MD.2)
How to use operations to solve word problems involving distances and masses of objects?
Examples:
1. in the 2012 Olympics, Michael Phelps swam the 100 m butterfly, the 200 m freestyle, the 200 m individual medley, 200 m of the freestyle relay, 100 m of the medley relay, and 200 m of the butterfly relay. How many kilometers did he swim?
2. In the 2012 Olympics, Gabby Douglas won one All-Around gold medal and one Team gold medal. Each gold medal weighs 16 ounces. How many pounds do her medals weigh altogether?

Show Step-by-step Solutions

The following activities are obtained from the Howard County Public School System.

Activity 1:
In PE, Zack and his friends had to measure their heights. They each used a different measurement tool, and then recorded their heights in the chart below.

Student	Zack	Duncan	Cameron
Height	1 yard	3 1/2feet	34 inches

Order the three boys by height, writing their names from tallest to shortest.

Explain how you figured out which boy was the tallest of the three.

A fourth student, Ryan, measured himself using a meter stick, and he found that he was exactly one meter tall. If a meter measures approximately 39 inches, how does Ryan's height compare to the heights of the other three boys? Tell how Ryan compares in height to Zack, Duncan, and Cameron. Then, use what you know about yards, feet, inches, and meters to explain your thinking.

Activity 2:
Jack and Abby are in swim class together. They challenged each other to see who could hold their breath underwater the longest. Jack and Abby's coach, Coach Foster, timed them with a stopwatch when they went underwater. Jack stayed underwater for 10 1/4 seconds, while Abby was able to stay under for 14 seconds.

Show on a number line the amount of time Jack and Abby each stayed underwater.

How much longer could Abby stay underwater than Jack?

Coach Foster told the kids that he was a champion swimmer, and he used to train himself to hold his breath. The longest he was ever able to hold his breath was three minutes. How much longer would Abby have to hold her breath underwater to match Coach Foster's time? Explain your thinking using words, numbers, and/or symbols.

Activity 3:
Brandon and Kelly are training to run in a 5-kilometer race next month. Each morning, Brandon runs a route through the neighborhood park while Kelly runs on the racetrack at the high school.

On Monday, Brandon ran 3 1/2 kilometers before he needed to take a break. Kelly ran 7 laps on the track, and then she needed to rest. If each lap Kelly ran was 400 meters, who ran a longer distance on Monday: Brandon or Kelly?

Explain how you know which person ran a longer distance.

On Wednesday, Kelly was able to run 9 laps, while Brandon ran 3 kilometers. How much further did Kelly run than Brandon on Wednesday?

On Friday, Kelly ran a certain number of laps, and Brandon ran a certain number of kilometers. They ended up running the same distance as each other. How far could each of them have run?

Activity 4:
Tyler has been saving up for a new video game that costs $60. He earned $28.75 over the past two weeks by mowing lawns, and his grandmother sent him $25 for his birthday.¦nbsp; He knew he didn't have enough for the video game, so he decided to take the twenty half-dollar coins he had in his coin collection.

Tyler didn't figure out the exact amount of money he had, but he knew that his total was more than enough to purchase the video game.¦nbsp; Explain how could Tyler have known that he had enough money without figuring out the exact amount he had.

When Tyler went to the store to buy the game, he discovered that the game cost $60, but the sales tax was an additional $7.20. With the added sales tax, he didn't have enough money after all. How much more money does Tyler need to be able to buy the game?

Try the free Mathway calculator and problem solver below to practice various math topics. Try the given examples, or type in your own problem and check your answer with the step-by-step explanations.

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