Lesson 8

Fill It Up

Est. Class Sessions: 3

Developing the Lesson

Part 2. Identifying Variables and Drawing the Picture

Identify Variables. After students have explored different ways to find a container's volume and can do it reasonably accurately, they are ready to begin the lab. The Fill It Up Lab pages in the Student Activity Book help children organize their investigation according to the TIMS Laboratory Method: drawing a picture, collecting and organizing data in a data table, graphing the data, and analyzing the data.

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Use the Fill It Up Lab with Feedback Box in the Student Activity Book to assess students' progress toward the following Expectations:

  • Interpret remainders of multidigit division problems [E6].
  • Solve multistep word problems involving the four operations [E8].
  • Use the relationship between larger and smaller units of measure to solve problems [E9].
  • Measure volume to the nearest cubic centimeter using a graduated cylinder (e.g., through displacement, by filling container) [E10].
  • Find the median of a data set [E12].
  • Make predictions and solve problems using patterns in data represented in data tables and bar graphs [E13].

Start the lab by giving each group at least three containers of different sizes. Students should identify the two main variables of the investigation. Tell them to think about what they knew and what they were trying to find out when they devised a plan to help Lee Yah find the volume of her container.

In this context, ask:

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  • What variable did you know in the beginning, the manipulated variable of the investigation? (container)
  • What variable were you trying to find out by collecting data? This is the responding variable. (volume)

Explain that the investigation will have the same variables.

Say:

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  • Look at the containers. What values for Container do you know before collecting data? (Responses depend on the containers used, e.g., red cup, peanut butter jar, tall jar, etc.)
  • What do you think some possible values for the variable Volume could be? (Students can estimate possible measurements for volumes of the containers.)
  • What unit of measurement will you use? (cubic centimeters)
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When estimating volume, students often look only at the height of a container instead of considering all its dimensions. For this reason, you may want to choose containers so that the tallest is not always the one with the largest volume.

Draw a Picture. Direct students' attention to Question 1 in the Draw section of the Fill It Up Lab pages in the Student Activity Book. Once the variables are identified, students draw a picture of the investigation. Remind students that the purpose of their drawing is to communicate the details of how they will conduct their experiment.

Ask:

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  • What are some important things to include in your drawing? (See Figure 2 for a sample drawing.)

Students' drawings should indicate their method of finding the volume: are they pouring water from the cylinder to the container or from the container to the cylinder? Their pictures should show the relative sizes and shapes of their containers along with the names that the containers will be given in the data table (e.g., red cup, peanut butter jar, tall jar).

Student Guide:
Student Activity Book: 547
Answers
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SG_Mini
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Master:
A sample drawing for Fill It Up Lab
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