How to Read a 12-Inch Ruler
Students often learn to read a 12-inch ruler at an early age as an aid to learning fractions or as the basis for future lessons about measuring and cutting materials. This basic skill can help students visualize different parts of things and how they fit together as well as help them develop their addition and subtraction skills. Learning to read a 12-inch ruler is not difficult but may take time, depending on the age and skill level of the student.
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Things You'll Need
- 12-inch ruler
- White printer paper
- Red pen
- Green pen
- Blue pen
- Orange pen
- Pink pen
Instructions
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1
Lay a 12-inch ruler along the edge of a piece of paper, sliding it down so the edges of the ruler and paper are parallel but have about a space between them about the width of two fingers.
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2
Place your finger on the 1-inch mark and count the inches down the ruler. Make a long line above each inch line on the ruler with a red pen. Note that each inch has many marks of different lengths within it.
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3
Place your finger on the longest mark in the center of an inch. This is the ½-inch mark. Count the inches starting with 1, then move to 1 ½ and on to 2, 2 ½, and so on, noting the placement of each ½ inch mark. Make a short line above each ½-inch mark with a green pen. Notice on the paper that each green line bisects the space between the red lines perfectly.
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4
Examine the other marks between inches. The marks slightly shorter than the ½-inch marks are ¼-inch marks. The marks slightly shorter than that are 1/8-inch marks, and the smallest marks are 1/16-inch marks. Make blue marks on the piece of paper above the ¼-inch marks, orange marks above the 1/8-inch marks. and pink marks above the 1/16-inch marks.
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5
Place your finger on the first red mark and count along the marks on your paper, saying the numbers that correspond with the colored marks you made in step 4. Red marks are inch marks, green are 1/2-inch marks, blue are 1/4-inch marks, orange are 1/8-inch marks, and pink are 1/16 inch marks. The first few counts for the first inch would be 1 and 1/16, 1 and 1/8, 1 and 3/16, 1 and ¼. The colors will help you remember what each mark means.
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References
- Photo Credit ruler image by Oleg Kapustin from Fotolia.com
