Volume and Capacity — South Australian Year 3 Maths
Litres and millilitres, reading measuring jugs, converting between units, then comparing and ordering how much containers hold. Two subtopics and 40 practice questions, aligned to AC9M3M02.
Volume and Capacity in South Australian Year 3
Capacity is how much a container holds. In this topic students measure in litres and millilitres, read the scale on a measuring jug and change between the two units. They then compare and order capacities and work out how much more one container holds than another. The Year 3 work in this topic is about capacity; volume, the room a solid takes up, comes in later years.
The two subtopics below are Measure capacity in litres and millilitres and Compare and order capacity. Volume and Capacity is one of the 18 topics in South Australian Year 3 Maths and belongs to the Measurement strand. Both subtopics come under Australian Curriculum code AC9M3M02. These skills lead on to reading jugs between the labelled marks and to capacity problems in Year 4.
Subtopics
Volume and Capacity: common questions
What is the difference between litres and millilitres?
Millilitres are for small amounts, such as a spoonful of medicine or a glass of water; litres are for large amounts, such as a bucket or a bath. One litre is 1000 millilitres, so 4 L is 4000 mL and half a litre is 500 mL.
How do you read a measuring jug?
Look at the numbers up the side and work out the step between marks. If the labels go 200, 400, 600 with one mark in between, each mark is 100 mL. Read the level with your eyes at the height of the liquid, where its top is flat.
How do you compare 1 L 80 mL and 1200 mL?
Write both in millilitres first. 1 L 80 mL is \(1000 + 80 = 1080\) mL, so 1200 mL is larger, by 120 mL. Watch out for the trap of reading 1 L 80 mL as 1800 mL.
How can children practise capacity at home?
Use a measuring jug in the kitchen or the bath. Ask how many 200 mL cups fill a 1 L jug, then check by pouring. Read the labels on drink bottles and milk cartons and put them in order from least to greatest.
Which curriculum codes cover Volume and Capacity in South Australian Year 3?
Both subtopics come under Australian Curriculum v9 code AC9M3M02, which covers measuring and comparing capacity, length and mass in metric units, read from jugs and other instruments with numbered marks.