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Volume and Capacity Exploration

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Volume and Capacity Exploration

Help plan a picnic by comparing container capacities and working out how much drink will fit. Use millilitres (mL) and litres (L). Remember: 1 L = 1,000 mL.

Understand and estimate

Think about how much each container can hold. Capacity tells us the amount a container can hold; volume tells us how much space a solid object takes up.

1.Complete the definitions: Capacity is the amount a container can . Volume is the amount of space an object .

2.Choose the more sensible unit for measuring the capacity of a swimming pool: millilitres or litres? Explain briefly why.

3.Which picnic container is most likely to hold about 250 mL?

A drinking cup
A swimming pool
A large water tank

Convert and compare

Use the key fact that 1 litre is equal to 1,000 millilitres.

4.Convert 2 L into millilitres. Show how you worked it out.

5.A juice carton holds 750 mL. How many more millilitres are needed to make 1 L?

6.Put these capacities in order from smallest to largest: 1 L, 500 mL, 250 mL.

7.True or false? Two 500 mL bottles hold the same amount as one 1 L bottle. Explain your choice.

Pack the picnic

At the picnic, each person gets one cup of drink. Use the information in each problem to plan carefully.

8.A jug contains 1 L of lemonade. Each cup holds 250 mL. How many full cups can be poured from the jug?

9.Maia has three 250 mL juice cartons. Does she have enough juice to fill a 1 L bottle? How much more juice would she need, if any?

10.A rectangular gift box is built from 12 identical unit cubes arranged in 3 layers, with 4 cubes in each layer. What is the box’s volume in cubic units?

11.The picnic team needs 1,500 mL of water. They have one 1 L bottle and one 500 mL bottle. Is that enough? Show the total capacity.

12.Explain one difference between measuring the volume of a solid box and measuring the capacity of a drink bottle.