Year 2 Teaching Sequence summer M8 – Capacity (three days)
Prerequisites:
 Estimate, measure and compare capacities, by direct comparison (pouring one container into another) or choosing and
using suitable uniform non-standard units, e.g. spoons or egg cups (see Year 1 teaching sequence M8)
 Recognise which shapes are divided in halves or quarters and which are not (see oral and mental starter bank M8)
Overview of progression:
Children make a measuring bottle by marking on cupfuls and use this to measure capacities of different containers. The litre
is introduced and chn find the equivalent number of cups, eggcups and water bottles. They compare capacities with the litre,
half litre and quarter litre.
Note that this sequence requires lots of containers of different proportions so it might be good to ask for chn’s help in
bringing washed containers to school.
Note that the group and individual/paired practice activities in this sequence should be rotated so that all children do both.
This rotation is to help with the management of classroom resources. You will need to reorganise these according the
number of containers and washing up bowls, etc you have available.
Note that it is important that children have some ‘benchmarks’ such as a litre and ¼ litre (cupful) to help them to estimate
capacities, particularly until they have more experience of measuring.
Watch out for children who think that taller containers have greater capacity even thought they might be narrower than a
shorter container. This makes direct comparison more difficult.
© Original teaching sequence copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.
Y2 Maths TS M8 – Sum – 3days
Objective:
 Estimate, measure and compare capacities, choosing and using suitable non-standard and standard units and suitable measuring
instruments
Whole class
Group activities
Paired/indiv practice
Resources
Show chn a 2 litre plastic bottle with a strip
of paper glued to one side, from the bottom to
near the top. Stand it in a washing up bowl to
catch any spillages. Ask a child to fill a plastic
cup with coloured water and pour it into the
plastic bottle. They mark on the strip of paper
where it comes to and write ‘1’. Ask another
child to do the same and write ‘2’. Repeat until
no more whole cups of water will fit (around
8). Empty the water out.
We’ve made a measuring bottle. We can use
this to find out how much water containers can
hold; we call this their capacity. Show children
a water jug. How many cupfuls of water do you
think this might hold? Less than 5? Between 5
and 10? More than 10? Take chn’s suggestions
and then ask a child to fill the jug with water
and carefully pour the water into the
measuring bottle. So what is the capacity of
this jug to the nearest cupful? Read this off
the scale, then fill the cup and tip into the jug
until it is full to confirm that this is the same
number of cups.
Group of 4-5 children
Task A:
Chn work in pairs to make their own
measuring bottle as in the whole class
teaching. They discuss how many
cupfuls each of four containers might
hold and record this in a table:
Container Estimate Measure
Mug
Water
bottle
Jug
Vase
They then use their measuring bottle to
measure the capacity of each to the
nearest cupful.
Harder: Chn measure capacity to the
nearest half cupful.
Task B:
Chn match capacities (in cupfuls)
to containers of different
proportions. They write the
names of the containers in order
of capacity from the least to the
greatest (see Activity sheet).
Harder: Chn also think of a
container with less capacity than
any of the containers and one
with greater capacity.
 2 litre mineral
water or pop
bottles with
strips of paper
for a scale
(these could be
laminated to
lessen water
damage)
 Food colouring
 Washing up
bowls
 Plastic cups
 Containers with
capacities of
less than two
litres
 Activity sheet
(see resources)
© Original teaching sequence copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.
Y2 Maths TS M8 – Sum – 3days
Show chn two identical two litre plastic
bottles. Ask one child to use cups to find the
capacity of one, and another child to use a
child’s water bottle to find the capacity of the
other. How many cups filled this bottle? And
how many water bottles filled this bottle? So
does this bottle hold more water than this
bottle? Talk to your partner. Draw out that we
cannot compare the capacities as cups were
used to measure the capacity of one bottle
and water bottles to measure the other, and
as the water bottle holds more water than the
cup, it is not fair to say how many of each the
containers held.
Shopkeepers, farmers and factories which
package liquids such as milk, squash, fruit juice
and soup don't use cupfuls to measure liquids,
they use litres and millilitres. This makes life
easy as they all use the same units of measure.
Carefully pass round a litre measuring jug and
a litre mineral water or pop bottle.
Show chn that the two litre bottle holds two
litres by filling up the litre pop bottle and
emptying it in to the 2 litre bottle twice.
How many cupfuls filled the big two litre
bottle? So how many cupfuls do you think will
fill one litre? Ask a child to help you to find
how many cupfuls fill the litre bottle and
measuring jug.
Group of 4-5 children
Task A:
Give each pair a litre bottle and either
an egg cup, yoghurt pot or plastic cup.
Challenge them to estimate how many
of the container will fill the bottle and
then to find out. They place the litre
bottle in the bowl, fill their containers
and pour into the litre bottle, counting
how many times they do this.
How many eggcups did your bottle hold
Marek? And how many yoghurt pots did
yours hold Becky? So does Marek’s
bottle hold more water than Becky’s?
Why not?
Harder: Discuss: So how many egg cups
is the same as half a litre? And yoghurt
pots?
Task B:
Chn write more or less according
to whether they think containers
hold more or less than a litre (see
Activity sheet).
Harder: Chn write one other
container for each category.
© Original teaching sequence copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.
 2 litre and 1
litre bottles
 Food colouring
 Washing up
bowls
 Cup and child’s
water bottle
 Litre measuring
jug and a litre
mineral water
or pop bottle
 Small
containers such
as egg cups,
yoghurt pots
and plastic
cups
 Activity sheet
of containers
more/less than
a litre (see
resources)
Y2 Maths TS M8 – Sum – 3days
Show chn a litre capacity measure. One litre
comes to here. Half a litre comes to here.
Mark on these two capacities with a writeon/wipe-off pen to make them clear.
Show chn four containers, e.g. a child’s water
bottle, tea cup, small teapot, fromage frais
pot. Which of these do you think will hold
more than half a litre? Draw a table on the
board to record chn’s estimates:
Estimates
Holds less than ½ litre
Holds more than ½ litre
Check the chn’s suggestions using the capacity
measure, filling each container with water and
pouring into the capacity measure over a
washing up bowl.
Record the results in a similar table with the
title ‘results’.
Group of 4-5 children
Task A:
Give a plastic beaker to each pair
labelled ¼ litre and a range of
containers with capacities of more and
less than ¼ of a litre, e.g. egg cup, mug,
small yoghurt pot and a small juice
bottle. Ask chn to predict which they
think holds less than ¼ litre and which
they think will hold more than ¼ litre.
They fill each container in turn with
coloured water and pour it into the
plastic cup to find out. They record
their results in a table as in the whole
class teaching.
Harder: Also challenge chn to work out
the order of the five capacities and to
write them in order from the least to
greatest.
Task B:
Give a capacity measure with ½
litre marked or container with a
capacity of ½ a litre to each table.
Ask chn to think of containers
which might hold more than ½
litre and containers which might
hold more than a ½ litre.
Easier: Give a collection of
containers and ask chn to sort
them into two groups.
© Original teaching sequence copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.
 A litre capacity
measure
 Write-on/wipeoff pen
 Washing up
bowls
 Plastic beakers
with capacity
of ¼ litre
 A range of
containers with
capacities of
more and less
than ½ of a
litre
 A range of
containers with
capacities of
more and less
than ¼ of a
litre
 Capacity
measures with
½ litre marked
or containers
with a capacity
of ½ a litre
Y2 Maths TS M8 – Sum – 3days