FOR PERSONAL USE. Capacity BROWARD COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCIENCE BENCHMARK PLAN ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT OPPORTUNITIES. Grade 3 Quarter 1 Activity 2

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1 activity 2 Capacity BROWARD COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCIENCE BENCHMARK PLAN Grade 3 Quarter 1 Activity 2 SC.A The student determines that the properties of materials (e.g., density and volume) can be compared and measured (e.g., using rulers, balances, and thermometers). SC.H The student knows that it is important to keep accurate records and descriptions to provide information and clues on causes of discrepancies in repeated experiments. SC.H The student knows that a successful method to explore the natural world is to observe and record, and then analyze and communicate the results. SC.H The student knows that to compare and contrast observations and results is an essential skill in science. SC.H The student knows that data are collected and interpreted in order to explain an event or concept. ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT OPPORTUNITIES The following suggestions are intended to help identify major concepts covered in the activity that may need extra reinforcement. The goal is to provide opportunities to assess student progress without creating the need for a separate, formal assessment session (or activity) for each of the 40 hands-on activities at this grade level. 1. Give students the following scenario: Two sisters, Lily, age 10, and Grace, age 5, are playing in their kitchen at home. Phoebe has two jars. One jar is very tall and thin, and the other is short and wide. She tells Lily that the tall jar must hold more water. Lily says, Let s compare. What tool will Lily need to compare the capacities of the two jars? (a measuring cup) What steps will Lily take to show Phoebe which jar holds more water? (Students should describe a procedure similar to the one used in this activity.) Can two containers of different shapes have the same capacity? (Yes) 2. Use the Activity Sheet(s) to assess student understanding of the major concepts in the activity. In addition to the above assessment suggestions, the questions in bold and tasks that students perform throughout the activity provide opportunities to identify areas that may require additional review before proceeding further with the activity. broward county hands-on science Quarter 1 41

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3 activity 2 Capacity OBJECTIVES In this activity, students find the capacity of various containers using milliliters as the metric standard unit of measure. The students operationally define capacity discuss metric standard units for measuring capacity measure the capacity of various containers in metric standard units of milliliters SCHEDULE About 40 minutes VOCABULARY capacity liter (L) milliliter (ml) MATERIALS For each student 1 Activity Sheet 2 For each team of four 1 beaker, graduated, 800-mL 4 cups, paper, 180-mL 4 cups, plastic, 30-mL For the class 8 containers, assorted (4 pairs) 1 cup, paper, 180-mL newspaper* paper towels* 8 pitchers* 1 roll tape, masking water, tap* *provided by the teacher PREPARATION Make a copy of Activity Sheet 2 for each student. Fill the pitchers with water and provide newspaper to cover the work areas during this experiment. Have paper towels handy so students can wipe up any spills. There are four pairs of containers in the kit: two 7-oz cups, two 9-oz cups, two dishes, and two vials. Label each pair with a different letter from A to D. For example, there should be two containers labeled A, two labeled B, two labeled C, and two labeled D. Each team of four will need four plastic cups, four paper cups, one beaker, one pitcher of water, and access to the masking tape. Students will need to share containers. You will need to borrow a paper cup and a graduated beaker from one of the groups for a demonstration. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Capacity is the measure of the maximum amount of material a container can hold. Capacity in the metric system is usually measured in liters, deciliters ( 1 /10 of a liter), and milliliters ( 1 /1,000 of a liter). Capacity in the customary system is measured in gallons, quarts, pints, and fluid ounces. 5 This activity introduces students to the milliliter; they use this metric standard unit to measure the capacity of various containers. broward county hands-on science Quarter 1 43

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5 1 2 Guiding the Activity Have students cover their work areas with newspaper. Distribute a pitcher filled with water, four plastic cups, and four paper cups to each team. Tell students that they are going to find out how much water the paper cup can hold. Ask, What could you use as a standard unit of measure? Ask, How can you find out how many plastic cupfuls of water the paper cup can hold? Have team members take turns pouring water from the plastic cups and counting the number of cupfuls it takes to fill the paper cup. Ask, How many plastic cupfuls did it take to fill your paper cup? Write the word capacity on the board. Tell students that they have found the capacity of the paper cup in units of plastic cups. Ask, How would you define capacity? Write the word liter and its abbreviation (L) on the board. Tell students that the liter is the basic standard unit of capacity in the metric system, just as the meter is the basic metric standard unit of length. Write the word milliliter and its abbreviation (ml) on the board. Explain that a milliliter is one thousandth of a liter. Write 1 liter = 1000 ml on the board and tell students that there are 1000 milliliters in 1 liter. Additional Information Students should suggest that the plastic cup could be used as a standard unit of measure because the plastic cups are of uniform size and smaller than the paper cups. Students should suggest counting the number of cupfuls of water they pour from the plastic cup into the paper cup until it is full. If the mouth of the pitcher is wide enough, students can fill their plastic cups simply by scooping up the water. If not, students will have to pour the water from the pitcher into their plastic cups. Remind students to keep track of how many cups of water they have added to the paper cup. If students report discrepant amounts, discuss possible sources of error, such as not filling the plastic cups completely or spilling some of the water. The wording of students definitions is not important so long as they recognize that capacity is a measure of the largest amount of something that a container can hold. broward county hands-on science Quarter 1 45

6 Guiding the Activity Additional Information Refer to Figure 2-1 and draw the graduated beaker on the board. Show students how to read the milliliter scale. 3 Hold up a graduated beaker, point out the scale on its side, and tell students that this container measures capacity up to 800 milliliters. Hold up a paper cup and ask, How could we use the graduated beaker to measure the capacity of this cup? Fill the paper cup with water and pour it into the graduated beaker. Ask a volunteer to read the number of milliliters of water in the beaker using the milliliter scale. Write on the board: capacity of paper cup = 180 ml. Give a copy of Activity Sheet 2 to each student. Distribute a container and a graduated beaker to each team. Show students where to get masking tape. Tell them they are going to use the beaker as a measuring device to determine the capacity of their containers in milliliters. Ask teams to first predict the capacity of their containers in milliliters and record their predictions on their activity sheets. Then have them measure the capacity of their containers by filling them with water and 46 activity 2 Capacity Figure 2-1. An 800-milliliter graduated beaker. Students should suggest filling the cup with water, pouring the water into the graduated beaker, and then reading the number of milliliters of water on the scale. The volunteer should read approximately 180 ml. Have students record the letter on their container in the first row of the chart on their activity sheets. Remind students to label their answers with ml for milliliter.

7 Guiding the Activity pouring the water into the beakers. Teams should record their results in the box next to the letter of their container. Additional Information 4 Tell teams that when they have finished with one container they should trade it for another container labeled with a different letter. Remind them to predict on the activity sheet the container s capacity, measure it, and record the measurement. Figure 2-2. Measuring capacity. Compile the class results on the board in a chart that lists the containers by letter and the capacity of each one in number of milliliters. Ask, Which container has the largest capacity? Which one has the smallest? Have each team write the capacity of their current container on a piece of masking tape and stick this label on their container. Display all the containers on the front desk and challenge the class to order the containers by capacity, from smallest to largest. Have students record the letter of their new container in the second row of the chart. Using the data on the board, students should say that the container with the largest capacity is the one that holds the greatest amount of water in milliliters; the container with the smallest capacity is the one that holds the least amount of water in milliliters. Some of the containers are identical and thus will have the same capacities. broward county hands-on science Quarter 1 47

8 R EINFORCEMENT Set up an interest center with an varied assortment of containers thick- and thinwalled, short and tall. Provide a supply of dried beans, rice, or popcorn kernels. Encourage students to fill the various containers with the material and use the graduated beaker to measure and compare their capacities. SCIENCE JOURNALS Have students place their completed activity sheets in their science journals. 48 activity 2 Capacity C LEANUP Pour the water in the pitchers and the containers down the sink. Remove the masking tape labels from the containers. Dry the containers, beakers, paper cups, and plastic cups; return them along with the masking tape to the kit. SCIENCE AT HOME If students have metric measuring cups at home, they can practice measuring the capacity of various containers in their kitchens. Remind students to first try to predict the capacity of each container in milliliters.

9 Connections Science Challenge Show the class three clear containers of roughly the same capacity but very different shapes one shallow and wide (such as a small, round baking dish or a shallow, rectangular storage container), another tall and narrow (such as a large, round olive jar), and the third of a width and height somewhere between the widths and heights of the other two containers. (Measure the capacities of the containers yourself beforehand to make sure they are about the same.) Ask students to predict which container would hold the most water and to explain why. Accept all responses without comment. Then put the containers, an 800-mL beaker, and a pitcher of water in a learning center, and give each team an opportunity to test their predictions. In a follow-up discussion, ask students to describe and explain their results. If students still doubt that three containers of very different shapes could have the same capacity, fill one with water, pour the water into the second container and then from that container into the third container. Students should realize that the capacity of a container does not depend solely on how tall it is or how wide it is or any other single dimension. Science Extension Provide students with a variety of containers of different shapes and sizes, including irregularly shaped ones such as small vases, food jars, and the like. Let students use the activity sheet procedure to predict and then measure the capacity of each container. In addition to water, students could use sand, popcorn kernels, foam-plastic packaging pellets, or other solid materials. Science and Math From their own experiences with containers for soda, milk, and other beverages, students may already be familiar with the English units of capacity commonly used in the United States. Let them use small and large Englishunit measuring cups and the metric beaker from this activity to derive a list of approximate English-to-metric equivalents. For example, students could fill a small (1-cup) measuring cup to the 8-ounce mark with water, then pour the water into the beaker to see how many milliliters that equals. As needed, help students read the metric measurements on the beaker and write them in rounded numbers. Science, Technology, and Society Remind students that the United States is the only major country in the world that uses the English system of measurement rather than the metric system in everyday life. Explain that years ago, some groups of people tried to convince the United States government to convert the country to the metric system. As a first step in that conversion process, food and beverage producers began labeling containers with both English and metric units. The effort to convert completely to the metric system was not successful. For example, our road signs still give distances and speed limits in miles, not kilometers. However, food and beverage containers still contain both English and metric labels. Encourage students to examine such labels at home and in a grocery store. broward county hands-on science Quarter 1 49

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