4.MD.1 — Measurement Conversions Word Problems
Practice converting measurements within the same system by expressing larger units as smaller units using real-world scenarios involving length, weight, time, and capacity.
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Three different problem sets — same skill, same layout, fresh numbers.
Preview — Set A
Read each word problem carefully, convert the measurements, and write your answer with the correct unit.
- 1.Maria has a ribbon that is 3 yards long. She needs to cut it into pieces measured in feet. How many feet long is Maria's ribbon?
- 2.A farmer has a fence that is 5 miles long. He wants to know the length in feet. How many feet long is the fence? (1 mile = 5,280 feet)
- 3.Jake filled a large container with 4 gallons of water for his science project. How many quarts of water does Jake have?
- 4.A baby elephant at the zoo weighs 2 tons. The zookeeper needs to record the weight in pounds. How many pounds does the baby elephant weigh?
- 5.Grandma's apple pie recipe takes 2 hours to bake. How many minutes will the pie bake in total?
- 6.The school hallway is 8 yards long. The principal wants to know the length in feet. How many feet long is the hallway?
- 7.A juice factory produces 6 gallons of orange juice each morning. How many cups of orange juice does the factory produce each morning? (1 gallon = 16 cups)
- 8.A rope used for tug-of-war is 15 feet long. How many inches long is the rope?
- 9.A sack of potatoes weighs 7 pounds. How many ounces does the sack of potatoes weigh?
- 10.The Smiths went on a road trip that lasted 3 days. How many hours did their road trip last?
- 11.A swimming pool holds 9 gallons of water. How many pints of water does the pool hold? (1 gallon = 8 pints)
- 12.A carpenter has a wooden board that is 4 feet long. He needs to measure it in inches. How many inches long is the wooden board?
- 13.A bag of dog food weighs 3 pounds. How many ounces of dog food are in the bag?
- 14.A relay race track is 2 miles long. How many yards long is the relay race track? (1 mile = 1,760 yards)
- 15.Lisa poured 5 quarts of lemonade into cups for the class party. How many pints of lemonade did Lisa have?
- 16.A movie is 2 hours and 30 minutes long. How many minutes long is the movie in total?
- 17.A truck is carrying a load that weighs 3 tons. The weigh station needs the weight in pounds. How many pounds is the load?
- 18.The park has a walking trail that is 4 miles long. How many feet long is the walking trail? (1 mile = 5,280 feet)
- 19.A fish tank holds 8 quarts of water. How many cups of water does the fish tank hold? (1 quart = 4 cups)
- 20.A tree in the schoolyard is 6 yards tall. How many feet tall is the tree?
- 21.Coach Davis runs 3 miles every morning for training. How many yards does Coach Davis run each morning? (1 mile = 1,760 yards)
- 22.A recipe calls for 2 pounds of flour. How many ounces of flour does the recipe require?
What this worksheet covers
22 story problems fill this word problems page; problem 8 asks "A rope used for tug-of-war is 15 feet long. How many inches…", and the sheet stays at that level throughout. Each problem arrives as a few sentences of context rather than a bare expression and answers carry units, and a number without its unit is only half an answer. Further down, problem 15 asks "Lisa poured 5 quarts of lemonade into cups for the class…". The sheet sits inside Common Core 4.MD.1, in the grade 4 Measurement & Data strand.
Skills practised
At grade 4, measurement is about converting within the customary and metric systems, feet and inches together, and area and perimeter, and this sheet takes one slice of that. Specifically, the problems practise measurement Conversions Word Problems. Working the page asks a student to read a situation and choose an operation before computing.
About the word problems format
Story problems are set one to a line with room to work underneath, problem 8, "A rope used for tug-of-war is 15 feet long. How many inches…" among them, and the key gives each of the 22 answers with its unit. Gardens, ribbons, tanks and trips are the reason measurement is taught; the numbers finally mean something.
Set A, Set B and Set C
Set A is the original MathSheetLab worksheet; Sets B and C keep its structure and redraw the numbers, with each answer recomputed rather than copied. Where Set A's problem 12 is "A carpenter has a wooden board that is 4 feet long. He…", Set B's is "A tank of lemonade holds 2 gallons. How many pints does the…".
22 story problem(s) drawn from the 4.MD.1 context family (unit-conversion stories (customary units and time)) — parameters inferred from the standard and grade
How to use this worksheet
Give this word problems uninterrupted. At grade 4, measurement is where procedure and recall have to run at the same time, and 22 problems done in fragments hide which of the two is the problem. If more than a third of the 22 problems come back wrong, stop and step back a grade in measurement rather than assigning Set B.
One mistake to watch for
Perimeter and area are confused, or both are given in the same unit. On this grade 4 word problems, problem 15 ("Lisa poured 5 quarts of lemonade into cups for the class…") is the kind of item where it shows.
The two ideas — distance around and space inside — have not been separated physically.
Trace the perimeter with a finger and shade the area for a few shapes; then insist on "units" versus "square units" in every answer.
Other grade 4 measurement formats
The same skill in the other formats available at this grade.
- Drill — Grade 4 Measurement Drill, 30 problems
- Timed Drill — Grade 4 Measurement Timed Drill, 72 problems
- Missing Number — Grade 4 Measurement Missing Number, 24 problems
- Mixed Review — 4.MD.2 — Measurement Word Problems: Four Operations, 22 problems
A step either side
The same format one grade down and one grade up — the easier sheet is often the faster fix when this one is not landing.
- 3.MD.7 — Area of Rectangles & Distributive Property — grade 3, 22 problems
- 5.MD.5 — Finding Volume of Rectangular Prisms — grade 5, 22 problems
Word Problems sheets in other grade 4 topics
Six PDFs, no sign-up: three versions of this grade 4 measurement word problems and three answer keys, each 22 problems long.