Making capacity fun

agoulding · 2005-05-08 02:39:31

can anybody suggest a fun way for children to learn the concept of capacity? I am going on teaching practice in a couple of weeks and i have to teach my year 3 class about capacity. maths isnt really my strong point but i would love to be able to help the children develop there knowledge and understanding and make maths fun for them. HELP!!!!!

lemonade · 2005-05-08 03:29:39

Get 30 cups and pour lemonade into them and say "These cups can all hold 20cl of lemonade," and then let the children drink it.

Roraborealis · 2005-05-08 04:11:31

Hey, good idea, erm.....lemonade!

agoulding · 2005-05-08 04:25:01

thanx 2 all the secret lemonade drinkers out there u shud get royaltiyes from R.Whites! sound gud but not sure how i could assess the understanding maybe i could get them all to puke in a bucket and measure that!

Roraborealis · 2005-05-08 04:53:32

What's very odd is that my grandad's name is Richard, and his last name is White. Whenever I see the R. White's lemonade I crack up!

MathsIsFun · 2005-05-08 10:18:05

I have 3 ideas.

One is Piaget's capacity idea - you know - short fat holds the same as long thin. Use glasses of different widths/heights and coloured water.Get the kids to estimate before you pour. (Young kids often assume the tall will hold more - it is so funny when they stare in amazement as you keep pouring from tall to short and it doesn't overflow!) But older kids can do things like use measuring cups and pens to mark things out.

Another idea is to have rocks, pebbles sand and water. Get a large glass container and fill it with rocks. Then add pebbles, and they fit (around the rocks - give it a shake)! Then add sand, and it fits! Then add water and it fits! You can show how this works by emptying then filling with water, then show the water spilling out when you add rocks, pebbles, sand.

My third idea: give them a challenge with one of these measuring puzzles

stewie · 2005-05-09 05:23:42

Roraborealis wrote:

What's very odd is that my grandad's name is Richard, and his last name is White. Whenever I see the R. White's lemonade I crack up!

well, i think wot u've just said explains a lot

Last edited by stewie (2005-05-09 05:26:16)

Roraborealis · 2005-05-09 07:34:03

Nice.

mathsyperson · 2005-06-07 02:03:07

You shouldn't give them R. Whites lemonade because it has sweeteners in it which means that they will be healthy children with perfectly white teeth and cancer.

utter_jeff · 2005-06-07 04:20:10

i dont understand algerbra so plez help

utter_jeff · 2005-06-07 04:22:43

so r u gonna reply?

MathsIsFun · 2005-06-07 09:58:42

Hi, utter_jeff, and welcome to the forum.

Sure we can help! But this is a forum, where people "post" messages and then other people come along later, read the messages and then perhaps "post" a reply ... this means you may have to wait a while for a reply.

Algebra just uses letters in place of "?"

So "x+2=6" is just "?+2=6", or in plain english "what is the number that when you add 2 becomes 6"

You could probably figure the answer to be 4, right?

Well, in algebra there are rules that let you get the answer automatically.

Rule 1: You can add,subtract,multiply or divide by anything, so long as you do it to both sides of the "="

So, you can use Rule 1 to make the "x+2=6" easier to solve.

What you want is answer like "x=", and the 2 is in the way of that ... so subtract the 2, but you have do it both sides (Rule 1) !

x+2 -2 = 6 -2

A little arithmetic (2-2=0 and 6-2=4) becomes

x = 4

SOLVED!

OK, that was too simple, but you get the idea.

How am I going so far?

Mr T · 2005-06-08 06:30:28

Hazaa!!!

mathsyperson · 2005-06-24 04:47:58

If agoulding is still here, I've got an idea.

Me and loads of friends had a free period (thankyou A-levels!) and so we went to the nearby park.
It was very hot and so we decided to all climb a tree to get the combination of fun and shade.

Anyway, we managed to get thirteen people and a football up there at once, so you could say that the capacity of the tree was thirteen people.

A possible demonstration would be to see how many children could get up trees of different sizes. Too bad about health and safety... How about a car or a small room in the school? A phone box?

MathsIsFun · 2005-06-24 11:05:44

What an idea, mathsyperson. You could get some large packing boxes and see how many kids you could fit in.

Roraborealis · 2005-06-24 20:56:40

LOL !!!! Just the thought made me laugh!

justlookingforthemoment · 2005-06-24 20:59:14

Once I remember the teacher brought her car along to school and we tried to fit the whole class in - there were about 25 of us, I think. And there were people in the boot too!

Roraborealis · 2005-06-24 21:03:57

HAHAHAHA!! The only funny thing that happened to us was when we were on a school trip (must have been about 6 years ago now) and we got a public bus, and when our teacher paid for us all there was a huge, huge long ticket.

Polly · 2005-06-26 21:33:29

stewie wrote:

Roraborealis wrote:
What's very odd is that my grandad's name is Richard, and his last name is White. Whenever I see the R. White's lemonade I crack up!
well, i think wot u've just said explains a lot

hi stweie we dont no u but me N my m8 wanna no how u got those smilies on.
p.s Im Jaz1 [ jasmin ]and my mates Polly

Polly · 2005-06-26 21:35:29

lemonade wrote:

Get 30 cups and pour lemonade into them and say "These cups can all hold 20cl of lemonade," and then let the children drink it.

Hi

Do u like maths?

key · 2005-06-26 21:37:49

no

Polly · 2005-06-26 21:39:04

hi wot shall we talk bowt

r u saying no 2 liking maths

key · 2005-06-26 21:40:55

yes i am and i don't knoww what to talk about

Polly · 2005-06-26 21:43:55

hi
i hate maths 2 r u a boy or a girl .polly.

hi im jaz 1(jasmin)

key · 2005-06-26 21:45:20

where do u live r u a girl

Math Is Fun Forum

#1 2005-05-08 02:39:31

Making capacity fun

#2 2005-05-08 03:29:39

Re: Making capacity fun

#3 2005-05-08 04:11:31

Re: Making capacity fun

#4 2005-05-08 04:25:01

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#5 2005-05-08 04:53:32

Re: Making capacity fun

#6 2005-05-08 10:18:05

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#7 2005-05-09 05:23:42

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#8 2005-05-09 07:34:03

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#9 2005-06-07 02:03:07

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#10 2005-06-07 04:20:10

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