How much does a container hold? Measuring Capacity How much does a container hold?

Customary Capacity There are four main units of customary capacity! Gallons – Gal. Quarts – Qt. Pints – Pt. Cups - C

Gallons Gallons are used to measure large amounts.

Quarts It takes four quarts to make one gallon.

Pints It takes two pints to make one quart. It takes four quarts to make one gallon. So… it takes eight pints to make one gallon!

Cups Cups are used to measure small amounts. It takes two cups to make one pint, and it takes two pints to make one quart. It takes four quarts to make on gallon, so…. It takes 16 cups to make a gallon!

Try This! Ms. Calkins went to the store to buy 6 quarts of milk. They were out of quarts! She had to buy pint containers instead. How many pints did she need to bring home the same amount of milk?

Think it through.. It takes two pints to make one quart. To get 6 quarts she needs to buy 12 pints!

HOW CAN I REMEMBER THIS???

Here’s another strategy!

What about the metric system? The metric system has two commonly used units, the milliliter and the liter. A milliliter is like one drop. A liter is one thousand drops.

Ms. Calkins’ water cooler holds 5,000 mL of Kool-Aid Ms. Calkins’ water cooler holds 5,000 mL of Kool-Aid. She has 2 bottles of Kool-Aid. Each bottle holds 2 L. Will the Kool-Aid fit in her water cooler?

+ = 2 L 2 L 4 L Step One: Draw the picture to show what she has. Step Two: Convert the amount to mL (since you are changing from a larger unit to a smaller unit, multiply by 1,000) 4 L X 1,000 = ___________ mL So…. 4 L = 4,000 mL Since the cooler holds 5.000 mL, it WILL hold the Kool-Aid! + 2 L 2 L = 4 L