How Does a Ruler Work: Name: __________________________________________________

Metric Units
A ruler measures length. It can measure small Example: A piece of yarn.
things, like a button, or large things like a door. The yarn starts on 0 and
To use a ruler, place the 0 mark at the end of ends on the 20 millimeter

mm
a item. The mark where the item ends tell you (mm) mark, so the piece of
how long it is. 0 10 20
yarn is 20 mm long.
Write the lengths for each piece of yarn below.

1 2

mm
mm

0 10 20 0 10 20 30 40
length length
Each mark on the ruler stands for 1 mm. There are nine Example:
marks between the 0 and the 10. Count them. There are
nine marks between the 10 and 20, between 20 and 30,
mm 1234 6789
0 5 10

mm
and so on. Each mark is a millimeter. These marks tell 18
you exactly how many millimeters long an item is. 0 10 20
Write the lengths for each piece of yarn below. This piece of yarn is 18 mm long.

1 2
mm

mm

0 10 20 30 0 10 20 30 40

length length
Now, write the length of each piece of yarn below.

1
length
mm

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

2
length
mm

0 10 20 30 40

Copyright © 2013 k12mathworksheets.com. All Rights Reserved. Free for educational use at home or in classrooms. www.k12mathworksheets.com
 How Does a Ruler Work: Name: __________________________________________________
Metric Units
A ruler measures length. It can measure small Example: A piece of yarn.
things, like a button, or large things like a door. The yarn starts on 0 and ends
To use a ruler, place the 0 mark at the end of on the 20 millimeter (mm)

mm
a item. The mark where the item ends tell you mark, so the piece of yarn is
how long it is. 20 mm long. 0 10 20
Write the lengths for each piece of yarn below.

1 2

mm
mm

0 10 20 0 10 20 30 40
length 10 mm length 40 mm
Each mark on the ruler stands for 1 mm. There are nine Example:
marks between the 0 and the 10. Count them. There are
nine marks between the 10 and 20, between 20 and 30,
mm 1234 6789
0 5 10

mm
and so on. Each mark is a millimeter. These marks tell 18
you exactly how many millimeters long an item is. 0 10 20
Write the lengths for each piece of yarn below. This piece of yarn is 18 mm long.

1 2
mm

mm

0 10 20 30 0 10 20 30 40

length 23 mm length 37 mm
Now, write the length of each piece of yarn below.

1
length 50 mm
mm

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

2
length 44 mm
mm

0 10 20 30 40

Copyright © 2013 k12mathworksheets.com. All Rights Reserved. Free for educational use at home or in classrooms. www.k12mathworksheets.com