14 How Big? How Heavy?

Sarika collects things like marbles, coins, erasers

etc. She takes some water in a glass and marks the
level of water as '0'.

If I drop 5 I think
ch.
marbles in this this mu
glass, can you
guess what will be
the level of water?

She drops 5 marbles in the glass. She marks

200
g

the new level of water as 5 marbles. I just made a guess

1kg
about how much
1kg

200
water will be

g
Oh, how did
you guess! Do pushed up by the
you know the marbles. How do you
volume of a
find the volume?
marble?

See, each marble pushes up

some water. Right? That is
because it takes up some space
which is its volume.

Children will need more exercises to compare the volume of solid bodies by guessing and by
informal measurement (using marbles, coins, matchboxes, etc.) before they begin to use
formal measures such as litres and cubic centimetres.

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 Your Measuring Glass
Now make a guess. Do you think the volume of 10 five-rupee
coins will be more than that of 10 marbles?
Guess the volume of each of these:
✤ A ball is nearly __________ marbles.
✤ An eraser is nearly __________ marbles.

✤ A lemon is nearly __________ marbles.

✤ A pencil is nearly __________ marbles.

✤ A potato is nearly __________ marbles.

200
g

Now make your own measuring glass using 35 marbles.

1kg

Take a glass of water and mark the level of water as ‘0’. Then put in 5 marbles
and mark the level of water as 5 M.

Again drop 5 marbles and mark the level of water as 10 M. Likewise make the
markings for 15 M, 20 M, 25 M, 30 M and 35 M.

Now put each thing in the measuring glass and check your guess.
Trywithdifferentthingslikeamatchbox,astone,etc.andfillthetable.

ox Name of the thing Its volume (nearly

hb o I with
a t c
d Let's fill it how many marbles?)
h e m How me? sand or nail
s.
T ts. u
a vol
flo d its
fin

Children can paste a paper strip on the glass and mark the level of water using a pen or a
pencil. The aim is to develop a sense of the concept of volume through examples and hands
on activities without giving a definition of volume. Comparing things on the basis of volume is
more abstract then comparison in terms of length or area.

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Which has More Volume?

Yes, if we
Can you tell make a
me the volume measuring
of 6 marbles bottle.
in mL?

In Class IV you made a measuring bottle for 250 mL.

Can you think of ways for making a measuring bottle which can
measure 10 mL, 20 mL, 30 mL, ………., 60 mL? Discuss with
your friend.
Tariq and Mollie made their measuring bottles.

Tariq had an injection. He used it to make his measuring

bottle. Mollie used an empty medicine bottle.

1kg
I took 5 mL once
in my injection.

200
g
I filled it twice I used this bottle
to mark 10 mL which measures
on my bottle. 10 mL to make my
measuring bottle.

Mollie used her measuring bottle to find the volume of five-rupee

coins. She found that 9 five-rupee coins push up 10 mL of
water. So you can also use 9 five-rupee coins to make your
measuring bottle! Go ahead!
Use your measuring bottle to find out:
a) What is the volume of 6 marbles? ________ mL.

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 b) What is the volume of 16 one-rupee coins? _________ mL.
Now solve these in your mind.
c) The volume of 24 marbles is _________ mL.
d) The volume of 32 one-rupee coins? _________ mL.
e) Mollie puts some five-rupee coins in the measuring bottle.
How many coins has she put in it:
❈ if 30 mL water is pushed up? __________
❈ if 60 mL water is pushed up? __________
First guess and then use your measuring bottle to find out the
200

volume in mL of some other things.

g
1kg

Thing Its volume (in mL)

Guess how many
litres of water your
body will push up?!

How Many Can Fit In? 1cm

1cm

This is a cube whose sides are of 1 cm each.

See, your Math-Magic book is 1 cm high. So
guess how many such centimetre cubes will
take the same space as your Math-Magic book?

To make a measuring bottle, make children use a wide-mouthed and transparent bottle so
that markings can be made easily. The activity aims to develop measurement skills in
children and involves both making and handling apparatus (such as measuring bottle) in the
mathematics classroom.

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 Hey, my Math-Mag
ic out ___ cm
And it is ab
book is about ___
cm _ cubes will
wide. So __
cu be s e width.
long. So ___ cm fit along th
ng .
th
will fit along its le

So total ___ cm
cubes will fit on the
Math-Magic book.

❈ Now if all these cubes are arranged in one line then how long
will that line be?______cm

Practice time
1. A stage (platform) is made with 5 Math-Magic books. The
volume of this stage is the same as __________ cm cubes.
2. Guess the volume of these things in cm cubes.

1kg
❈ A matchbox is about _________ cm cubes.

200
g
❈ A geometry box is about_______cm cubes.
❈ An eraser is about__________cm cubes.

How will you check your guess? Discuss.

Matchbox Play

Tanu is making a stage with matchboxes.

She first puts 14 matchboxes like this in
the first layer.
The activity 'How many can fit in' requires a sense of the size of a cm cube. For finding the
volume of different shapes, the teacher can make cm cubes and use matchboxes to make
different models. Tanu's stage or Mohan's model are examples where children calculate
volume in terms of matchboxes, which may later be converted into cm cubes.

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 She makes 4 such layers and her
stage looks like this.

❈ She used _____ matchboxes to

make this stage.

❈ The volume of one matchbox is the same as 10 cm cubes.

Then the volume of this stage is same as _____ cm cubes.
❈ If all these cubes are arranged in a line, how long will that
line be? _____ cm.
❈ Which has more volume — your Math-Magic book or
Tanu’s platform?
200
g

With your friends, collect many empty matchboxes of the same

1kg

size. Measure the sides and write here.

My matchbox is ____ cm wide.

It is ____ cm long.
It is ____ cm high.

❈ Use 56 matchboxes to make platforms of different heights.

Fill this table.
How high is it? How long is it? How wide is it?
Platform 1

Platform 2

Platform 3

The volume of each platform is equal to ________matchboxes.

❈ Make deep drawings of the platforms you have made.

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 Practice time

Mohan arranged his matchboxes like this.

❈ How many matchboxes did he use to
make it? What is its volume in
matchboxes? ________ matchboxes.
❈ Collect empty matchboxes. Arrange
them in an interesting way. Make a deep drawing of it.
Making a Paper Cube

Aanan and his friends are making a cube with paper. They cut a
sheet of paper into a square of 19.5 cm side. They cut 6 such
squares. Follow these photos to make your paper cube.

1. Fold the paper into 2. Fold the top left

four equal parts to cor ner and the
make lines like this. corner opposite to
it like this.

1kg
3. Fold the top and P

200
g
4. So that the paper
the bottom edges to
looks like this.
meet the centre line. Q P
Now fold corner P... Q

Q Q
5. Fold corner Q in 6. Lift corner P
the same way. The and slip it under
paper will look like the folded paper
P
this now. like this.

Encourage children to make different shapes of the same volume using identical units, for
example, bricks or matchboxes. To calculate the sides of the platform, lengths can be rounded
off to the nearest centimetre.

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 7. Do the same for 8. Turn the paper
corner Q. The paper and fold it to make
will look like this. lines like these.

9. Each child should make one

such piece. Six children will take
their pieces and put one inside
another to make this paper cube.

Note: Remember to begin with a square paper of side 19.5 cm. Also, in step 2
you must all start by folding the left corner.
How
200
g

cube many cm
How Big is Your Cube? s
need in all do
1kg

platf to mak I
o e
1. a) How long is the side of your cube? _______ the p rm as big a
aper a
cube s
b) How many centimetre cubes can be ?
arranged along its:
❈ Length? __________

❈ Width? __________
❈ Height? __________ Thimpu

c) Answer Thimpu's questions:

r on
f i r s t laye
ke the any cm How many such
To ma able how m ____ will I need to m
layers
the t ill I use? _ ake a
w paper cube? __
cubes ______

d) So the total cm cubes = __________

e) The volume of the paper cube is same as __________ cm cubes.
If we begin with square paper of side 19.5 cm, then we get a cube of side 7 cm.

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2. Anan made a big cube having double the
side of your paper cube.

How many of the your paper cubes will

fit in it? Try doing it by collecting all the
cubes made in your class.
Packing Cubes

Ganesh and Dinga want to pack 4000 centimetre cubes in boxes.

These are to be sent to a school. There are three different boxes
available for packing.

10 cm
6 cm

10 cm
B C
cm

m
cm

9c
10

11

20 cm 11 cm 15 cm

1kg
Dinga Ganesh
Will we be able to
fit all 4000 cubes in

200
I think there is

g
these three boxes?
enough space in
I think we need one
these boxes to pack
more box for it.
all 4000 cubes.

❈ What is your guess? Who is right? Look at Box A. In the

first layer we can
❈ How can Ganesh and Dinga test arrange 20 × 10 = 200
cubes. And 6 such
their guesses before packing the layers can be packed. So
cubes in the boxes? Discuss with in box A we can arrange
Ganesh
your friend. 200 × 6 = 1200 cubes.

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 Use Ganesh's method and write:
❈ _____ centimetre cubes can be arranged in box B.

❈ _____ centimetre cubes can be arranged in box C.

❈ So _____centimetrecubes in all can be packed in the three boxes.

Which Pipe Fills More?

Collect some old postcards. You can also use

thick paper of size 14 cm × 9 cm.
Fold the postcard along the width to make
pipe-1. Join the ends with cello tape.
200
g

Take another postcard and fold it along

the length to make pipe-2. Join the ends
1kg

with tape.
❈ Guess which pipe can take more sand inside it. Hold it
on a plate and pour sand to check your guess. Was 1 2
your guess correct? Discuss.
Now do the same with other pipes shown here.

To make the triangle-shaped pipe-3,

draw two lines on the postcard. Fold 3
the postcard along the lines. Join the
ends with tape.

Now make the square-shaped pipe-4.

4
Find out which pipe can take the most
sand inside it. So which pipe has the
most volume?

Remind children of the thread activity on page 155 where they may have seen that
out of the shapes they made with a fixed perimeter, the circle had the biggest area.
Here they will be looking for the shape with the biggest volume while they keep the
area of the paper fixed.

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 Trek to Gangotri

The students of Class XII are going on a

trek to Gangotri. They have to pack their
bags for six days and keep them light.
They also have to take things that do not
take too much space. So they will look for
things that have both less volume and
less weight. After all, they will carry their
own bags while climbing the mountains!
They even dry the onions and tomatoes to
make them light. One kg of onions or
tomatoes becomes 100 g when the water
inside dries up.
The list of food each person will need for one day:
? Rice: 100 g

? Flour (Atta): 100 g

? Pulses (Dal): 1 the weight of rice and

3

1kg
flour

200
g
? Oil: 50g

? Sugar: 50g

? Milk powder: 40g (for tea, porridge,

and hot drink)

? Tea: Around 10g

? Dalia: 40g for breakfast.

? Salt: 5 g

? Dried onions: 10 g

? Dried tomatoes: 10 g

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 a) For 6 days, each person will need
? Rice and flour – ______ g ? Pulses – ______ g
? Dried onions – ______ g
b) How much of fresh tomatoes should be dried for 6 days for
10 people?
c) What is the total weight of food (for 6 days) in each person’s bag?

us
Even one gram Guess how many of
e
extra can make together weigh on
the trek tough! gram! About 100?
200
g
1kg

How Heavy am I?

Do you remember the story of how Vaidika’s daughter found the

weight of an elephant? (Math-Magic Class IV Page 143)

Can you guess the weight of the

heaviest animal on this earth? No,
it's not me. I weigh only 5000 kg!

le. Its weight is

It is the Blue Wha
ore than me. So
around 35 times m
kg does it weigh?
how many thousand

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❈ Guess how many children of your weight will be equal to the
weight of an elephant of 5000 kg.
❈ At birth, a baby elephant weighs around 90 kg. How much did
you weigh when you were born? Find out. How many times is a
baby elephant heavier than you were at birth?
❈ If a grown up elephant eats 136 kg of food in a day then it will
eat around _________ kg in a month.

Guess about how much it will eat in a year.

Shahid Saves the Bank!

Shahid works in a bank. He sits at the

cash counter. Whenever there are too
many coins he does not count them. He
just weighs them.

Weighing is so much
easier! The weight of a
5-rupee coin is 9 g. Tell

1kg
me the weight of the
sack and I will tell you Can you hold these coins and say

200
g
the number of coins in it. which is the heaviest?

ins
5 r u pee co One kg is equal to 1000g
g of ow
My ba s 9 kg. So h ve? so 9 kg is equal to 9000
weigh ha
ins d oes it g. If one coin weighs
o
many c 9 g, then the bag
weighing 9000 g has
9000 ÷ 9 =______ coins
in it. Easy!

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 h How many coins are there in a sack of 5 rupee coins if it weighs:

a) 18 kg? ______ b) 54 kg? ______ 2250 g can also

be written as 2
c) 4500 g? ______ d) 2 kg and 250 g? ______ kg and 250 g. Can
you explain why?
e) 1 kg and 125 g? ______

h A 2 rupee coin weighs 6 g. What is the weight of a sack with:

a) 2200 coins ? _____ kg _____ g b) 3000 coins? _____ kg

h If 100 one rupee coins weigh 485 g then how much will 10000
coins weigh? _____ kg _____ g

With your eyes closed, can you tell which is heavier — a

100-rupee note or a 50-rupee note? This may be difficult to say,
but Shahid, who cannot see, has a better sense of touch than
most people.
200
g

1kg
Once Shahid noticed that a bundle of notes which came to the bank
1kg

200
g
felt different and heavier. He asked the manager to check. Others
looked at it but found no problem. He insisted and so a machine
was brought to weigh it. It showed that the notes were fake, not real
ones. “Oh Shahid! You really saved the bank!” said everyone.

Find out and discuss

h How do people who cannot see make out different notes and
coins? (Hint: Look for a shape , , , etc. on notes of ` 20, 50,
100, 500 etc. and feel it.)
Spec

h What should we look for to check if a 100-rupee

imen

note is real or fake?

During the discussion on checking a note as fake or real, different things can be observed. A
fake note may differ in size, quality of paper and printing or the style in which numbers are
written. The watermark (the white area with Gandhi's image) and the words 'Hkkjr' and 'RBI'
written on the shiny security thread are meant to prevent people from printing fake notes.

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 A Page to Cut Out
Angles

30°

60°

45°
Sweet Box

Cut along the dark lines. Paste the shape on a thick paper. Fold
along the dotted lines to get a sweet box as shown on page 126.

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Notes

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Notes

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