Primary School
Part of Every Child Matters Academy TrustMass, Capacity and Temperature
Explore mass and capacity
To practise comparing and ordering mass, why not ask your child to compare food items from the kitchen? Ask your child to explain which item has the greater mass and why. Encourage them to use the less than (<) and greater than (>) symbols to compare. For example:
Compare a 500g bag of pasta and a 375g tin of tomatoes.
500g > 375g and 375g < 500g
You could ask your child to find a few more items and put them in order, from the item with the least mass to the largest mass. For example:
Order a 500g bag of pasta, a 375g tin of tomatoes, a 1000g box of detergent, and a 750g box of cereal.
375g < 500g < 750g < 1000g
Discuss whether items are measured in grams or kilograms. If possible, encourage your child to use different types of weighing scales, including balance scales and digital scales.
Your child could also compare objects with different capacities. Take a selection of empty containers and ask your child to guess which container holds the most. Then, they can test their guess by seeing how many cups filled with water it takes to fill each container. Encourage them to discuss and record their findings. See if they can use the term capacity when you are talking.
Bake together
You could try following a recipe with your child. Help them weigh the ingredients using digital or balance scales (whatever you have at home). Can they tell you the mass of the ingredients in kilograms and grams?