LESSON 1 Measuring Volume

The Crow and the Pitcher

This is a very old story of a very thirsty crow. The crow, nearly dying of thirst, flew with joy to a pitcher which he saw some distance away. When he came to the pitcher, he found water in it, but so near the bottom that he was not able to drink. He tried to knock over the pitcher so he might at least get a little of the water, but he did not have enough strength for this. At last, seeing some pebbles nearby, he dropped them one by one into the pitcher, so little by little, he raised the water to the very brim and satisfied his thirst.

Why did the water in the pitcher rise?
Do you think the water in the pitcher rose the same amount each time a pebble was dropped in? Why or why not?

The volume of a rock is the amount of space it takes up. The volume of the pitcher is the amount of space inside it.

We measure volume in cubic units. A cubic centimeter (cc) is the amount of space taken up by a cube that is one centimeter long on each side.