Great new pages on measuring angle! In Year 5 children will be introduced to using a protractor, which can prove to be tricky. Before starting, it is important that children can estimate angles fairly accurately and they should always do this before measuring, to ensure that their answer is sensible.

There are several stages in the process of measuring angles:

1. Align the centre. Place the crosshair, centre dot or small hole of the protractor precisely on the vertex (corner) of the angle.

2. Align the baseline. Turn the protractor so that one side of the angle lines up exactly with the baseline of the protractor, making sure that the vertex of the angle is still correctly positioned.

3. Check the scale. There are two scales on a protractor, an inner and an outer. Start reading from the side of the protractor which is showing zero.

4. Read the measurement. Follow the second line of the angle up to the scale. Read the number of degrees where the line crosses the edge of the protractor.

5. Verify. Make sure the answer makes sense based on the earlier estimate, especially whether it is acute or obtuse.

Children may place the protractor in the wrong place to start with; possibly aligning the bottom of the protractor to the line rather than the baseline. Also, watch out for inaccurate readings between two sets of whole tens on the protractor.

Of course, this is tricky and our latest pages can really help with starting out as they show correctly positioned protractors on angles, making readings easier. Well worth a look! Go to Maths: Year 5: Geometry