Reading scales and liquid levels

In the last lesson, you wrote measurements in two units. One millilitre is only about twenty drops of water. One gram is about the mass of a paper clip. One kilogram is one thousand grams, about a bag of sugar. Today, we will read a scale by finding what one small gap stands for. Amara pours some water into a measuring jug. How much water is in the jug? Here is the water Amara pours in. We must read the water level. The water is between two hundred and three hundred millilitres. The small marks between them have no numbers. So first, we find what one small gap stands for. Count the gaps between them: one, two, three, four, five. Three hundred minus two hundred is one hundred millilitres. So five gaps make one hundred millilitres. One hundred divided by five is twenty. So each small gap is twenty millilitres. The water is four gaps above the two hundred mark. Four gaps of twenty millilitres make eighty millilitres. Two hundred plus eighty is two hundred and eighty. There are two hundred and eighty millilitres of water in the jug. We read a weighing scale the same way.

Amara weighs some carrots on a kitchen scale. What is the mass of the carrots? Try it first. Pause if you like. The pointer is between two hundred and four hundred grams. Count the gaps between them: one, two, three, four. Four hundred minus two hundred is two hundred grams. Two hundred divided by four is fifty. So each small gap is fifty grams. The pointer is three gaps past the two hundred mark. Three gaps of fifty grams make one hundred and fifty grams. Two hundred plus one hundred and fifty is three hundred and fifty. The carrots have a mass of three hundred and fifty grams.

Amara's mother puts a bag of rice on a weighing scale. What is the mass of the rice? Write it in kilograms and grams. Try it first. Pause if you like. The pointer is between one kilogram and two kilograms. Count the gaps between them: one, two, three, four, five. From one kilogram to two kilograms is one kilogram. One kilogram is one thousand grams. One thousand divided by five is two hundred. So each small gap is two hundred grams. The pointer is three gaps past the one kilogram mark. Three gaps of two hundred grams make six hundred grams. One kilogram and six hundred grams make one kilogram six hundred grams. The rice has a mass of one kilogram six hundred grams. Find what one small gap stands for first. Then count the gaps from the numbered mark below.