Unit 1: Measuring Outside (Capacity and Length)

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easuring: Unit 1, Exploring and Playing

Play Activity 1: Water, Water!Aims: To understand how different containers can hold different amounts of water.

You will need: water tray; food dye; plastic containers (some with measurements)

Preparation: Fill the water tray half way with water. Add a small amount of food colouring to change the colour of the water. Provide different sized and shaped plastic containers.What to do: Place different plastic containers in the water tray. Allow the children to fill these and empty them and

explore how much water each can hold. Some children can compare containers by pouring

smaller cups into larger ones and vice versa. If the water spills, there was no room for it all!

Talking points Did you fill your container all the way? Was it half full/

half empty? Which container do you think holds the most water?

How could we find out? This one looks the tallest; do you think it holds the most

water? Is this container shorter/ fatter/ taller/ thinner…?

Evidence of learning: Listen to children talking. Can they discuss which container holds the most water?Observe children. Do they explore different containers and make comparisons?

Outcomes: I can explore and observe which containers hold the most amount of water.I can use some language relating to capacity such as full, empty, half full, half empty etc.

Unit 1: Measuring Outside (Capacity and Length)

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easuring: Unit 1, Exploring and Playing

Play Activity 2: Rice capacitiesAims: To explore the capacity of different containers. To recognise full, half-full and empty.

You will need: rice; different sized plastic containers (preferably transparent); scoops or spoons; funnels; number cards; ‘Measuring words’ (see resources).

Preparation: Fill a tuff spot with rice and arrange different sized bottles, scoops, spoons and funnels around. Place number cards and measuring words in the rice. What to do: Children fill a container with rice using the scoops,

spoons and funnels. They investigate which container holds the most rice. Encourage children to tip one container into another to

make these comparisons. Can they order three containers by capacity using the

number cards/ pick measuring card to show this e.g. empty → half full → full.

Talking points Pick two containers- which holds the most? Can you show me an empty, half full and full

container?

Evidence of learning: Listen to children talking. Can they use vocabulary relating to capacity?Observe. Do they order correctly?

Outcomes: I can explore different ways of ordering containers by their capacity.I can use vocabulary relating to capacity.

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted by individual users. exploring-playing_comp-meas_R911

Unit 1: Measuring Outside (Capacity and Length)SU

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nit 1, Exploring and PlayingPlay Activity 3: Cars and rampsAims: To explore how far cars travel down a ramp. To understand that a distance can be measured.

You will need: Toy cars; blocks or crates; planks or tubes; chalk; meter rulers.

Preparation: Set up a few blocks to create a base and put a ramp against this. Place cars around and show how chalk marks can be used to measure by drawing some on the ground.What to do: Let children experiment with the ramps and cars to see

which car travels the furthest distance. They can make marks to record, then compare

distances. Children might then adjust the height of the ramps by

adding more blocks to raise the base, exploring whether this makes the cars travel further.

Some children might want to use meter rulers, so place these alongside the activity. Talking points Which car travelled furthest? How do you

know? Does changing the height of the ramp make a

difference to the distance the cars travel? How do you think we could measure the

distance?

Evidence of learning: Listen to children talking. Can they discuss which travelled furthest and use vocabulary related to length?Observe children. Do they experiment with different cars, heights, positions?

Outcomes: I can begin to discuss how to measure distance and make comparisons.I can compare different cars and how these travel

Unit 1: Measuring Outside (Capacity and Length)

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Play Activity 4: Tea PartyAims: To explore the capacity of different containers. To use mathematical vocabulary related to capacity.

You will need: Tea set e.g. tea pot, saucers, cups, beakers; water bowl; dried beans/rice; small bowls.

Preparation: Set up the tea set on a table or waterproof mat. Provide water and rice in other containers.What to do: Encourage the children to have tea party. They use the tea pot to pour water in the beakers and

cups and use language to explain this e.g. I’ve filled up your cup, your cup is half full, mine is nearly empty etc.

They can ‘serve’ the rice into the different sized bowls. Talking points Who has got the most ‘tea’? Can you fill the cup so it is half full? What

happens if you pour this cup into this beaker? Can you order the cups for the most ‘tea’ to the

least? How many cups does this teapot fill?

Evidence of learning: Listen to children talking. Can they use vocabulary relating to capacity?Observe children. Do they compare different containers and how much each can hold?

Outcomes: I can explore different capacities and make comparisons between different containers.

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted by individual users. exploring-playing_comp-meas_R911

Comparing and Measuring Unit 1

Measuring Outside (Capacity and Length)

Exploring and Playing

Teacher Notes

You will need:Water tray; food dye; plastic containers (some with measurements); different sized plastic containers; scoops or spoons; funnels; number cards; measuring words (see resources); toy cars; wooden blocks or crates; wooden planks of wood or plastic tubes; chalk; meter rulers; play tea set; water bowl; dried beans/ rice; small bowls.

KEY CONCEPTS Vocabulary: It is vital that the correct vocabulary is used during this unit, as this

will be the language that the children will continue to use and be expected to know as they progress. Set that expectation by modelling consistent and correct terminology: full, half full, nearly full, nearly empty, Does this ____ hold more/ hold less than ____?

Capacity: Discuss and share every-day examples through the school day, e.g. water bottles, lunch containers, rain water tubs, etc. Children need time to play and experiment with containers, liquids and rice or lentils or sand. In this way, they can compare and explore which containers hold more or less, are full or half full, etc. It is also useful to point out measurements on the sides of bottles to show that we do measure how much liquid a bottle contains.Conservation: Pour one measure of coloured water into each of some tall, thin and short, fat transparent containers. Discuss what happens to the water level in each and why.

Distance: Children begin to see how we are able to compare and measure distances. They need to relate these to their everyday lives and group distances in different categories. There are longer distances, such as from school to home, which are harder for us to measure, and shorter ones, such as how far a toy car can travel.

Watch out for children who:

struggle to use the correct vocabulary and get muddled trying to use it;

have difficulty making comparisons;

think the tallest container always holds the most liquid;

think a car that runs slowly down a slope travels further than one that runs fast.

Support them by:

- modelling the correct vocabulary consistently and making sure all the adults in the unit know the correct vocabulary. Display vocabulary beside the activities. If a child uses incorrect vocabulary, repeat the sentence back to them using the correct version and ask them to repeat this or tell a friend.

- Keep the number of containers smaller to build confidence before introducing more. Do the same with distances.

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted by individual users. exploring-playing_comp-meas_R911

© Original plan copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted by individual users. exploring-playing_comp-meas_R911