Problem Solving with Volume: Water
10 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is for students to observe the relationship between the different types of units in the metric system. By contrast, in the standard system, it is not easy to see the relationship between inches, cups, and pounds. While students may notice and wonder many things about this image, the important discussion points are conversions between liquid volume units (milliliters) and geometric volume units (cubic centimeters), specifically that 1 cubic centimeter of water is equivalent to 1 milliliter of water. Students will use this relationship between different metric units for volume in the next activity.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the image.
- “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 1 minute: partner discussion
- Share and record responses.
Student Task
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- There is a scale.
- The weight shows 1 gram.
- There is a cube.
Students may wonder:
- What does the cube represent?
- Is that a cube?
- Does g stand for grams?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “The cube in this image represents 1 cubic centimeter of water. How do we know the volume of the cube is 1 cubic centimeter?” (It has 1 cm for the length, width, and height, so the regular volume of the water is 1 cubic centimeter.)
- “How much does 1 cubic centimeter of water weigh?” (The image shows that 1 cubic centimeter of water weighs 1 gram.)
- "One cubic centimeter of water is the same volume as 1 milliliter of water. How much would 1 milliliter of water weigh?" (1 gram, because it is the same amount as 1 cubic centimeter)”
- "When might it be helpful to talk about the volume using cubic centimeters? When might it be more helpful to talk about volume using milliliters? (It would be helpful to use cubic centimeters when we are measuring the volume of a solid, and it would be helpful to use milliliters when we are measuring the volume of a liquid.)
Standards
- 5.MD.5·Relate volume to the operations of multiplication and addition and solve real world and mathematical problems involving volume.
- 5.MD.C.5·Relate volume to the operations of multiplication and addition and solve real world and mathematical problems involving volume.
15 min
20 min
Knowledge Components
All skills for this lesson
No KCs tagged for this lesson
Problem Solving with Volume: Water
10 min
Narrative
The purpose of this Warm-up is for students to observe the relationship between the different types of units in the metric system. By contrast, in the standard system, it is not easy to see the relationship between inches, cups, and pounds. While students may notice and wonder many things about this image, the important discussion points are conversions between liquid volume units (milliliters) and geometric volume units (cubic centimeters), specifically that 1 cubic centimeter of water is equivalent to 1 milliliter of water. Students will use this relationship between different metric units for volume in the next activity.
Launch
- Groups of 2
- Display the image.
- “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
- 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
- “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
- 1 minute: partner discussion
- Share and record responses.
Student Task
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Sample Response
Students may notice:
- There is a scale.
- The weight shows 1 gram.
- There is a cube.
Students may wonder:
- What does the cube represent?
- Is that a cube?
- Does g stand for grams?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
- “The cube in this image represents 1 cubic centimeter of water. How do we know the volume of the cube is 1 cubic centimeter?” (It has 1 cm for the length, width, and height, so the regular volume of the water is 1 cubic centimeter.)
- “How much does 1 cubic centimeter of water weigh?” (The image shows that 1 cubic centimeter of water weighs 1 gram.)
- "One cubic centimeter of water is the same volume as 1 milliliter of water. How much would 1 milliliter of water weigh?" (1 gram, because it is the same amount as 1 cubic centimeter)”
- "When might it be helpful to talk about the volume using cubic centimeters? When might it be more helpful to talk about volume using milliliters? (It would be helpful to use cubic centimeters when we are measuring the volume of a solid, and it would be helpful to use milliliters when we are measuring the volume of a liquid.)
Standards
- 5.MD.5·Relate volume to the operations of multiplication and addition and solve real world and mathematical problems involving volume.
- 5.MD.C.5·Relate volume to the operations of multiplication and addition and solve real world and mathematical problems involving volume.