Free Printable Unit Conversions Worksheets

About the Unit Conversions Worksheets

The page opens with a lesson on the one idea children get stuck on: when to multiply and when to divide. How Unit Conversions Work draws the same length as 2 feet and as 24 inches. A small unit means you need more of them, so changing to a smaller unit is multiplication. A big unit means you need fewer, so changing to a bigger unit is division. It works one example each way in four steps: find the fact, decide bigger or smaller, multiply or divide, and check that the answer makes sense. Unit Conversions: Guided Practice follows the same steps. The first sections print the fact and ask the child to circle more or fewer before writing anything. The last section leaves the choice of × or ÷ to the child, across length, weight, liquid volume and time.

In 4th grade, converting units means going one way: from a larger unit to a smaller unit. There are more of the small unit, so the number gets bigger, and the operation is always multiplication. 4 feet is 4 × 12 inches. 3 kilograms is 3 × 1,000 grams.

The Measurement Conversion Chart is the reference page. It lists the facts children are expected to know for length, weight, liquid volume and time, with customary and metric units side by side, and gives an everyday size for each unit so the numbers mean something.

Convert Units of Length and Convert Units of Weight and Time both open with two-column tables, which is how the standard asks for conversions to be recorded: 1 foot is 12 inches, 2 feet is 24 inches, 3 feet is 36 inches. Then come single conversions and mixed measurements such as 3 feet 5 inches, where the feet are converted and the inches are added on.

In 5th grade conversions go both ways. Convert Smaller Units to Larger Units is the division side: 48 inches is 48 ÷ 12 feet. Metric Conversions with Decimals uses the fact that metric units are built on powers of 10, so 3.5 kilometers is 3,500 meters and 250 centimeters is 2.5 meters. Customary Conversions with Fractions does the same with halves and quarters, and the multi-step word problems put a conversion inside a longer problem.

The word problems each give one amount in a large unit and one in a small unit. Nothing can be added or subtracted until both are in the same unit. For measuring with a ruler and liquid measures, see the measurement worksheets. For hours and minutes on a clock, see elapsed time.