Grade 5 · Math · Lesson 23

Measurement Word Problems

Measurement word problems describe real situations — runs around a track, bottles being filled, packages being weighed — and ask you to find a missing measurement. The US uses customary units (inches, feet, yards, miles for length; ounces, pounds for weight; cups, quarts, gallons for liquid) AND metric units (cm, m, km, g, kg, mL, L). Both systems appear in real life, on labels, in recipes, and in science. Solving any word problem needs three skills together: choosing the right unit, picking the right operation, and writing the unit next to your answer.

What this lesson teaches

1Read measurement word problems and identify the units involved in customary or metric systems
2Choose the correct unit of length, weight/mass, or capacity for a real-world scenario
3Solve one-step word problems with US customary units (in, ft, yd, mi, oz, lb, cup, qt, gal)
4Solve one-step word problems with metric units (cm, m, km, g, kg, mL, L)
5Convert between units within a problem before adding or comparing measurements

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