Lesson 6
Multi-step Conversion Problems: Metric Liquid Volume
Lesson Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is for students to solve conversion problems using metric volume units.
Lesson Narrative
In this lesson, students solve conversion problems involving metric liquid volume measurements. The first activity in this lesson focuses on base-ten structure and conversions and also gives students a chance to work with decimals, fractions, and powers of 10 in exponential form. The second activity is contextual and also involves work with fractions and decimals. It gives students a chance to practice multiplication (by numbers that are not powers of ten) either with whole numbers or a whole number and a decimal depending how they solve the problem.
- Engagement
- MLR1
Learning Goals
Teacher Facing
- Solve multi-step problems involving metric liquid measurement conversions.
Student Facing
- Let’s solve multi-step problems about metric liquid volume.
Required Preparation
Lesson Timeline
| Warm-up | 10 min |
| Activity 1 | 20 min |
| Activity 2 | 15 min |
| Lesson Synthesis | 10 min |
| Cool-down | 5 min |
Teacher Reflection Questions
What strategy did most students use for the second activity? How can you encourage students to be more flexible with their use of multiplication or division when converting metric units?
Suggested Centers
- Would You Rather? (2–5), Stage 2: Compare to Smaller Units (Supporting)
- Compare (1–5), Stage 5: Fractions (Supporting)