Size Them Up: Learning About Volume and Capacity

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In this activity, learners will put a set of containers in order by capacity. Would the tallest container hold more or less water than the wide, short one? Is that more or less than the pyramid shape? All ages will find something to puzzle over as they try to line up containers in order by capacity. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org.]

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
Under 5 minutes
Learning Time:
5 to 10 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
free per group of students
Age Range:
Ages 4 - 14
Resource Types:
Activity, Game
Language:
English

Materials List (per group of students)

  • 5-8 clean, empty plastic containers marked by capacity in fluid ounces (e.g., containers that held food, acrylic paint, shampoo). Containers should be different sizes and shapes.
  • Permanent marker
  • Scrap paper and pencils

Keywords

Subjects

  • Mathematics
    • Geometry
      • Solid Geometry
    • Measurement
      • Units of Measurement
      • Size and Scale
      • Systems
  • The Nature of Technology
    • The Design Process
      • Problem Solving
  • The Nature of Science
    • The Scientific Process
      • Asking Questions
      • Conducting Investigations

Informal Categories

  • Games

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see

Learning styles supported:

  • Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

Source Collection

  • Mixing in Math

Rights:

  • , © 2010, TERC, Inc., MA., 2010

Funding Source:

  • NSF, ESI-0406675 and DRL-0713537