As children jump into multiplication and division, they face another difficult concept: volume. Understanding units of measure makes its way into math around third grade, with concepts like calculating 3-D volume following close behind. Introducing measurement to students can be approached a few different ways, but hands-on activities and physical demonstrations are great additions to any measurement unit. Explore the basics of volume with your students by demonstrating liquid measurement and volume.
Measurement Activities
- Visual measurements: Using a container and measuring cups, explain the units of cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. Ask students to guess how many cups are in a pint, how many pints are in a quart, and so on. Some may already be familiar with these measurements from baking.
- Class recipe: Make a class trail mix snack in small groups and have students create their own mix by measuring specific amounts. Here are the supplies needed:
- Measuring instruments: ¼ cup, ½ cup, ¾ cup, 1 cup
- Paper bags or zip lock sandwich bags
- Ingredients such as: raisins, Cheerios, chocolate, sunflower seeds, Kix cereal, Chex cereal, goldfish crackers, stick pretzels, banana chips, and cranberries
- Art projects: Integrate a little art into your math lesson and have students illustrate a container and label how much water is inside with the units of measurement they just learned.
- King Gallon’s Family:Teach your students how to convert gallons, quarts, pints and cups with this volume trick.
Measurements of time, liquid, and masses for Grade 3
Evan-Moor’s Math Fundamentals book covers measurements of time, liquid, and masses. The units linked below teach the basics of measuring time, measuring liquid with customary units and metric units, and measuring masses of objects. The third grade unit contains a teacher instruction page and multiple worksheets and activities for students to practice their measuring skills. This unit focuses on the basic units of measurements like cups, pints, quarts, and gallons, and how they compare to each other.
- Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.
Measurement Conversion for Grade 4
Once students grasp units of measurement as they relate to time, liquid, and mass, they’ll attack the concept of conversion. Converting units within a system of measurement can seem very clear when being demonstrated in a physical or hands-on way, but doing the math on paper can be much more challenging. Luckily, there are plenty of fun ways to make unit conversions less intimidating.
“Party Time” is an Evan-Moor grade 3 math unit that provides worksheets for unit conversion, including fun activities like crosswords and party planning, as well as a standardized style test. The unit covers measurement and conversion of time, length, and volume. Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.
Fill It Up! for grades 3–4 is a fun measurement matching activity to help students practice converting measurements. The unit contains the directions for the activity, two sets of measurement cards, and an answer form. Students will need to match two cards together to find equivalent measurements. For example: a student will need to find a card that equals two cups, i.e., a pint card. To make it more challenging, flip the cards over like a regular matching game so the student will have to try and remember where each measurement card is to successfully match eight pairs.
Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.
Converting Units Within a System for Grade 5
Converting units within a system may be introduced as early as third grade, but it becomes a crucial skill by fifth grade. Though the conversions become more difficult as students progress to higher levels of math, the fundamentals stay the same. Evan-Moor’s Math Fundamentals for grade five covers all the basics of math measurement your fifth grader will need. The unit linked below provides practice of converting measurements within a system, with word problems, practice worksheets, and other activities to help students ace conversion! The models in the unit go over customary units of length, capacity, and weight.
- Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.
Does Volume Change with Shape?
Help your students understand volume in this hands-on activity. (Students may have different results in this activity; if you’re using 20 blocks, some may create a 4 x 5 rectangle, while others may build a 2 x 10 rectangle.)
- Using centimeter cubes or blocks, give a set number (12, 20, 25) to each student and ask them to form a rectangular solid with their blocks. If you can, place a concealing barricade between desks so students can’t see each other’s creation.
- Once everyone has created their solid, remove the barriers so students can compare with each other. They may have trouble understanding that though some rectangles look different from others, they all have the same volume. You can test this several times using a different amount of blocks each time until students start to understand the concept of volume.
Linear Measurement Conversions for Grade 6
Around sixth grade, your students will have to tackle linear measurement conversions. While students need to practice this skill to improve, it can be tiring to do the same thing over and over again.
In “Linear Measurement: Conversions Between Units,” students solve riddles, tongue twisters, and complete math sentences while practicing their linear conversions. By completing the “math sentence” conversions, students then can match the answer to a letter, which is a piece of the puzzle on the activity page. Solving the problems means solving the puzzle! Students can practice their fundamental math skills without feeling bored converting units of measurement. This unit, which includes six activity pages that test your students’ conversion ability, also provides an assessment page in test format.
- Find this unit on Teachers Pay Teachers here.
Encourage your students to take note of measurements at home – how much milk they pour into their cereal, how many inches long their couch is, etc. Some of my teachers offered extra credit if we brought in an empty carton and wrote down how many cups, pints, quarts, or gallons it held. Students will start to take notice of volume and measurements in their everyday life, and this will transfer to how comfortable they are with conversions in the classroom. Reinforcing your students’ confidence in this fundamental part of math will benefit them greatly as they progress to higher math!
Christine Wooler has experience working with children as a youth soccer coach and summer camp counselor. She is currently studying English Literature and journalism in college. She enjoys exploring educational topics that help students have fun while learning.