PSLE measurement questions with worked answers
Measurement questions are usually lost at the conversion, not the calculation. Your child needs to move between kilograms and grams, litres and millilitres, and hours and minutes without hesitation, and give the answer in the unit the question asks for.
What the PSLE tests in measurement
- Length, mass and volume of liquid in metric units
- Converting between km and m, m and cm, kg and g, ℓ and ml
- Compound units such as 3 kg 50 g written as a decimal or in one unit
- Time, including the 24-hour clock and duration across hours
- Measurement problem sums answered in a stated unit
Where children lose the most marks
- Compound units with a zero, such as 3 kg 50 g, which is 3.05 kg and not 3.5 kg
- Problem sums with mixed units that must be changed to one unit before working
- Duration questions that cross the hour or midnight
A PSLE-style question, worked
A bag of flour has a mass of 3 kg 50 g. Mei uses 280 g of flour each day for 6 days. How much flour is left? Give your answer in kilograms.
- 3 kg 50 g = 3000 g + 50 g = 3050 g
- Flour used = 6 × 280 g = 1680 g
- Flour left = 3050 g − 1680 g = 1370 g
- 1370 g = 1370 ÷ 1000 kg = 1.37 kg
Why 1.82 kg is wrong: The child wrote 3 kg 50 g as 3.5 kg, which is 3500 g. Then 3500 g − 1680 g = 1820 g = 1.82 kg. 50 g is 0.05 kg, so the bag holds 3.05 kg.
Free PSLE measurement questions with answers
Careless mistakes to watch in measurement
Left out the units
Your child writes 81 instead of 81 cm². Where the answer line does not print the unit, leaving it out can cost marks. How to make units a habit.
See the fix →Converting units (kg, ℓ, m, cm³)
Your child divides by 100 instead of 1000 when changing cm³ to litres, and the answer is ten times too big. Why it happens and how to fix it.
See the fix →Calculation slip
Your child uses the right method but slips on the arithmetic, like a missing zero in long division. How to spot calculation slips and cut them down.
See the fix →Questions parents ask
Will my child lose marks for leaving out units in the PSLE?
Units are often printed on the answer line, but in structured questions your child should write them. An answer in the wrong unit, such as grams when kilograms were asked for, is marked wrong.
Which unit conversions should a P6 child know by heart?
1 km = 1000 m, 1 m = 100 cm, 1 kg = 1000 g, 1 ℓ = 1000 ml, 1 h = 60 min, and 1 ℓ = 1000 cm³ for volume questions.
Is measurement tested in Paper 1 or Paper 2?
Both. Conversions commonly appear as short questions in Paper 1, and inside longer volume, rate and money problems in Paper 2.
See which habits are costing your child marks.
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