NCERT Class 3 Maths (Maths Mela) · Chapter 10

Fun at Class Party!

Measuring length with hand spans, footsteps, strings, and a metre rope: comparing lengths, and half and quarter metres.

📌 What you’ll learn in this chapter

Measuring with body parts: hand span, footstep, arm length
Why the same thing can get different measures
Comparing lengths with a string (indirect measuring)
The metre, half metre, and quarter metre

🎈 Let’s Begin: Decorating the Class

Class 3 is getting ready for a party. Riya measures the table with her hand spans: 8 spans. Arjun measures the same table: 7 spans! Who is right?

Both! Arjun’s hand is bigger, so he needs fewer spans. That’s why we need a standard measure like a metre, which is the same for everyone.

✋ Part 1: Measuring with Our Body

Hand span: from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger (fingers stretched)
Footstep: heel to toe
Arm length: shoulder to fingertip

⚠️ Common mistake Leaving gaps between hand spans or footsteps. Place each one right after the last!

🧵 Part 2: Measuring with a String

Can a big table go through the door? You don’t need to lift it! Measure the table’s width with a string, then hold the string against the door. If the string is shorter than the door’s width, the table will fit.

📏 Part 3: The Metre

Make a metre rope with a metre rod: tie a knot at one end and another knot 1 metre away.

Fold it in half → half metre
Fold it in half again → quarter metre
2 half metres = 1 metre · 4 quarter metres = 1 metre

Less than 1 metre	About 1 metre	More than 1 metre
Pencil, book, shoe	A big step for an adult, a Class 3 child’s height (about)	Door, blackboard, classroom

✏️ Practice Time

Try these on your own first, then check your answer below each question.

Q1. Why do two children get different numbers of hand spans for the same table?

✅ AnswerTheir hands are different sizes.

Q2. How many half metres make 1 metre?

✅ Answer2

Q3. Is a door more or less than 1 metre tall?

✅ AnswerMore (about 2 metres)

📘 NCERT Textbook Activity Help

Hints and answers for the activities in the textbook, page by page. Try each one yourself before looking at the answer!

Pages 128–129 · Class party picture

Ways of measuring

✅ AnswerChildren are measuring with hand spans, footsteps, and paper strings. Shelly uses a string or strip to find the door’s height. Leena and Adi will not get the same number, because their hands are different sizes. Measuring with a string or a metre rope is better, because it’s the same for everyone.
Shortest and longest strings: put the strings side by side (or compare them with the grid) to find the shortest and longest.

Pages 130–132 · Strings and the table

Longer, shorter, and the door

✅ AnswerTo find the longest string light, stretch them straight and compare them side by side (or count the bulbs if they are the same distance apart).
The table: measure its length and breadth with a thread and compare with the door’s width. If the breadth is smaller than the door, carry the table in sideways. If both are bigger, you can tilt the table or turn it on its side so its height or the diagonal goes through.
Things that can’t pass through the school gate: a big truck, a crane.

Pages 133–135 · True for all? And the metre

Body measures and height

✅ AnswerCheck with your friends. These are roughly true for most people: head ≈ 3 hand spans around, forearm ≈ foot length, height ≈ arm span. They are not exact for everyone.
Most Class 3 children are a little more than 1 metre tall.

Pages 136–138 · Half and quarter metre

Measure and jump

✅ AnswerUse your ropes to sort objects: a pencil is less than a quarter metre, a school bag is about half a metre, and a door is more than a metre. Cutting a 1 m rope into 4 equal pieces needs 3 cuts. A child’s footstep is about 15–20 cm, so about 5–6 footsteps fit in a metre.

👨‍👩‍👧 Tips for Parents

Measure a bed with hand spans. Compare your count with your child’s.
Make a 1 m rope at home and find things longer or shorter than it.
Mark family heights on a wall and see who is taller than 1 metre.