Grade 2 Math: 10 Free Practice Questions

Answer: miles
Miles is the appropriate unit for measuring a long distance such as the trip from home to school. Distance between two places far apart (like a house and a school) is measured in miles, not inches (too small), ounces (a weight unit), or minutes (a time unit). Students may confuse units of length with units of weight or time, choosing 'ounces' or 'minutes' because they are common measurement words.

Answer: 30
27 rounds up to 30. The ones digit is 7. Since 7 is 5 or greater, round up to 30. Students round down to 20, not correctly applying the round-up rule for digits 5-9.

Answer: 15 cents
Maria has 15 cents left after buying the pencil. First find the total amount. 3 dimes = 30 cents and 4 nickels = 20 cents, so 30 + 20 = 50 cents. Then subtract the cost of the pencil: 50 − 35 = 15 cents remaining. Students may treat every coin as worth the same value (counting 7 coins as 7 cents or 35 cents), or forget to subtract the pencil's cost and answer 50 cents.

Answer: 12:15 p.m.
Times just after noon are labeled p.m., so lunch starts at 12:15 p.m. Noon is 12:00 in the middle of the day. The moment the clock passes noon, times switch to p.m. Since 12:15 is 15 minutes after noon, it is written 12:15 p.m. Students often choose 12:15 a.m. because the hour is 12, not realizing that 12:15 a.m. is 15 minutes after midnight, in the middle of the night.

Answer: 45
The pattern counts by 10s, so the next number after 35 is 45.

Answer: 13
A sum of 13 is impossible because the highest possible sum from two dice numbered 1 to 6 is 12. The greatest number on each die is 6, so the largest possible sum is 6 + 6 = 12. Since 13 is greater than 12, it can never be the result. Students may not calculate the maximum possible sum first and instead guess based on how large the number sounds.

Answer: 35 rounds to 40 and 25 rounds to 30
35 rounds up to 40, and 25 rounds up to 30. For 35, the ones digit is 5, so round up to 40. For 25, the ones digit is 5, so round up to 30. Students think both numbers round down since they are 'halfway,' forgetting the rule that 5 always rounds up.

Answer: 0.5
Halfway between 0 and 1 is one half, which is written as the decimal 0.5. Splitting the distance from 0 to 1 into 10 equal tenths, the halfway point is at 5 tenths. Five tenths is written as 0.5. Students may choose 1.5, placing the halfway point beyond 1 instead of between 0 and 1.

Answer: 3
In 344, the digit 3 is in the hundreds place.

Answer: 539
The pattern counts by 100s, so the next number after 439 is 539.