LESSON 9 Measuring Volume of Solid Objects

Sam and Tess returned to the Ancient History Museum to help Professor Garcia find the volume of some artifacts. They found Professor Garcia studying some artifacts in her office. She was so surprised to see the children that she accidentally dropped one of the items into an ancient glass jar filled with water.

Sam continued, “We can measure the volume of all of these artifacts by displacement using a graduated cylinder and some water. We can put them in the cylinder and see how much the water rises.”

“Water? These artifacts really should not get wet!” said Professor Garcia.

“We will build models of the artifacts instead,” suggested Tess.

“That is a good idea. We can use the models to estimate the volumes of the actual artifacts. The volume of the item is the amount of space it takes up,” said Professor Garcia.

“Or in this case, the amount of water the item pushes away or displaces,” added Sam.