Lesson 1

When you are estimating or measuring a large or small amount of material, you need to use a unit of appropriate size. Read through the next example to see why the size of the units you choose is important.

 

Example

 

Concrete, soil, sand, and gravel are often sold by the cubic metre. Why are these items not sold by the cubic centimetre?

 

Solution

 

The Cubic Metre to Cubic Centimetre image shows a comparison between a cubic metre and a cubic centimetre.

 

A cubic centimetre is only a fraction of the size of a cubic metre. In fact,

 

 

Concrete is sold in large quantities. It does not make sense to sell concrete or other similar building materials by the cubic centimetre. If this were done, customers would be buying millions of cubic centimetres of concrete, soil, sand, or gravel.

 

Self-Check 2

 

In Volume and Capacity you will identify measurements as either volume or capacity and you will choose the best unit for each estimation. Complete Volume and Capacity now.

 

 

Try This 3

 

Go back to your notes from Try This 2. Look at the referents you found to visualize 1 cm3 and 1 in3. Think of those objects as you work through Using Referents for Volume. In this activity you will use a referent to estimate the maximum volume a cereal box can hold.

 

Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects/Thinkstock

1. What was your estimate in cubic centimetres? In cubic inches?
   
   
2. Which unit measure is easier to use in this case? Why?
   
   
3. If you were asked for the capacity of the box, in what metric and imperial units would you give your answer?

Save your responses in your course folder.