Your child is learning how to use customary and metric units to measure volume, capacity, and weight/mass of solid objects and containers. Your child is using small cubes that represent cubic inches to measure the inside area, or volume, of rectangular solids and irregular objects. Your child is measuring capacity, or how much containers can hold, using measurements such as cups, gallons, milliliters, and liters. Your child is calculating weight using units of ounces, pounds, and tons. He or she is also calculating mass, the measure of the amount of matter in an object, using grams and kilograms. The following activities are designed to reinforce your child’s understanding of these customary and metric units.
Repectfully,
Ms. M.
How Much Water Does It Hold?
Materials Water; cup, pint, and quart containers; various containers
Fill the cup, pint, and quart containers with water. Ask your child to compare filled and empty containers and estimate how many cups, pints, or quarts of water each empty container can hold. Then have your child measure by pouring water from the cup, pint, or quart containers into the empty containers.
The Weigh In
Materials Bathroom scale and food scale (for smaller items);common household items such as soap, a box of food, soda can, fruit, or a book
Collect a variety of household items and place them on the kitchen table. Have your child estimate and order the objects from lightest to heaviest. Help your child weigh each item to check the estimate.