New Jersey Mathematics Standards and Progress Indicators
Standard 4.9

All students will develop an understanding of and will use measurement to describe and analyze phenomena.

Descriptive Statement: Measurement helps describe our world using numbers. We use numbers to describe simple things like length, weight, and temperature, but also complex things such as pressure, speed, and brightness. An understanding of how we attach numbers to those phenomena, familiarity with common measurement units like inches, liters, and miles per hour, and a practical knowledge of measurement tools and techniques are critical for students' understanding of the world around them.

Cumulative Progress Indicators

By the end of Grade 4, students:

  1. Use and describe measures of length, distance, capacity, weight, area, volume, time, and temperature.
  2. Compare and order objects according to some measurable attribute.
  3. Recognize the need for a uniform unit of measure.
  4. Develop and use personal referents for standard units of measure (such as the width of a finger to approximate a centimeter).
  5. Select and use appropriate standard and non-standard units of measurement to solve real-life problems.
  6. Understand and incorporate estimation and repeated measures in measurement activities.

    Building upon knowledge and skills gained in the preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students:

  7. Use estimated and actual measurements to describe and compare phenomena.
  8. Read and interpret various scales, including those based on number lines and maps.
  9. Determine the degree of accuracy needed in a given situation and choose units accordingly.
  10. Understand that all measurements of continuous quantities are approximate.
  11. Develop formulas and procedures for solving problems related to measurement.
  12. Explore situations involving quantities which cannot be measured directly or conveniently.
  13. Convert measurement units from one form to another, and carry out calculations that involve various units of measurement.
  14. Understand and apply measurement in their own lives and in other subject areas.