Measuring Length in Inches With a Ruler
Skill: Measuring lengths to the nearest whole inch with a ruler
Download PDF worksheetAnswer key (PDF)
Free for personal and classroom use. Print at 100% / "Actual size" on US Letter paper.
About this worksheet
Using a ruler correctly is a practical skill that children need in school and beyond. This second-grade worksheet shows six gray bars, each with a printed inch ruler directly beneath it. Children read the ruler to find the length of each bar and write it in inches. Every bar is a whole number of inches long, from 1 to 6 inches, and every bar starts exactly at the zero mark.
The rulers are drawn to true size, so when the worksheet is printed at 100 percent (also called "Actual size" in most print settings), each inch on the page is a real inch.
How to use it: show your child where the zero mark is and explain that measuring always starts there, not at the edge of the ruler. Have them trace a finger along the bar to its end and then look straight down to the number on the ruler. Talk about the small marks between numbers; they show parts of an inch, but on this page every bar ends exactly on a whole inch.
The answer key lists the length of each bar. If your printer shrinks the page to fit, the rulers will be smaller than real inches, but the answers will still match the printed rulers. This worksheet supports Common Core standard 2.MD.A.1 (measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers).
Count and Trace Numbers 1-10
Addition Within 10
Subtraction Within 10