Capacity: Estimate and Measure in Litres and Millilitres

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Write the Litre Fact in Your Copy
4 Try It Together
5 Class Challenge
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Illustration for Getting Started Here is a one-litre bottle, a cup and a teaspoon.

About how many cups of water do you think it takes to fill the whole bottle? More than five? More than ten?

Take three hands-up estimates, not open call-outs. Don't settle on the right answer yet — the wide spread of guesses is the hook.

Draw out the idea that a bottle takes many cups, and a cup takes many spoons — capacity comes in big amounts and small amounts, which is why we need two units.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~8 mins

A millilitre is a tiny amount — about one drop from a spoon. A litre is a big amount — a full bottle of water.

If you poured one whole litre out drop by drop into tiny millilitre cups, you would fill one thousand of them. So one litre and one thousand millilitres are the very same amount of water. We just measure it with the big unit or the small unit.

We use litres for big amounts, like bottles and jugs. We use millilitres for small amounts, like spoons and medicine cups.

Teacher Notes

Point at the litre reading, then the millilitre reading: same water, two names — one litre, one thousand millilitres. If you want to show the digits shifting from 1 to 1,000, tap along the chain on the board yourself; that is a teacher move, not something the class needs to read.

The trap is thinking a bigger number means more water. 1,000 ml is not more than 1 l — it is exactly the same. Ask the class which everyday things they would measure in litres and which in millilitres before moving on.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Write the Litre Fact in Your Copy ~3 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

In your maths copy, write the fact at the top of a fresh page:

1 l = 1,000 ml

Then rule three columns headed container, my estimate and jug reading. You will fill in four containers as we measure them.

Teacher Notes

Walk the row glancing that the fact is written and the three columns are ruled — no marking, this is whole-class copybook practice. Have the estimate column ready before any pouring starts so pupils commit to a guess first.

+10 XP

4 - Try It Together ~12 mins

Today we measure four containers together at the water tray, one at a time: a cup, then a mug, then a yoghurt pot, then a small flask.

For each one we estimate first — write your guess in millilitres in your copy — then we pour the water in, read the jug at eye level, and check how close we were.

Hands-on Task

Teacher Notes

Pupils measure at the water tray — circulate and catch reading slips on the spot. The class reads each jug aloud and you reconcile any disagreement as you circulate.

Take the four in that order on purpose: the cup and mug are close, so pupils learn a cup usually holds less than a mug; the yoghurt pot is smaller again; the flask is the biggest and closest to half a litre. Hold out for the estimate before any water is poured — the learning is in the gap between guess and reading.

Read the jug at eye level, not from above — model bending down to the line. If a reading lands between two marks, ask the class what each little step is worth before they say the number.

+15 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Now for the practice round. Estimate then measure how much four more containers hold, biggest worth most:

an egg cup, then a mug, then a yoghurt pot, then a small lunch flask. Record each in millilitres.

Stretch: which two of your containers together would just fill the one-litre bottle?

Hands-on Task

Teacher Notes

This is the practice round — real containers circulate around the room (or sit at stations) and pupils measure each one with their own jug. Keep the pass-on rhythm brisk; the class confirms each reading aloud at the end.

The order rises in size: the egg cup is tiny (tens of millilitres), the mug and yoghurt pot land in the low hundreds, the flask is the biggest. The stretch is the key one idea — that two smaller amounts can add up to one litre (1,000 ml). Prompt with: your flask is about 400 ml — what would you need to add to reach 1,000?

Watch for pupils reading from above the jug rather than at eye level, and for skipping the estimate. Every pour needs a guess first.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 4 · Measures: Length, Weight and Capacity Measures

Lesson 49 · Capacity: Estimate and Measure in Litres and Millilitres

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This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~8 mins

3 - Write the Litre Fact in Your Copy ~3 mins

4 - Try It Together ~12 mins

Hands-on Task

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Hands-on Task

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