Year 3 - Mass & capacity

These practical Year 3 outdoor maths lessons make mass and capacity meaningful through real-life, hands-on activities. From scavenger hunts and comparing weights to measuring capacity with litres and millilitres, pupils build fluency, strengthen number skills, and deepen their understanding in active, engaging contexts.

Lesson Plans

Using scales to measure

During this outdoor lesson, children explore using scales in a range of contexts to build fluency in their use of number lines and to explore how to use scales to measure mass and volume.

Learning objective:

To use scales to measure

Measuring and comparing masses

The main activity in this outdoor lesson is to explore the mass of objects and find equivalent masses using grams and kilograms. This active and engaging lesson will allow children to deepen their understanding of mass and reading scales.

Learning objective:

To measure and compare masses

Comparing mass using addition and subtraction

In this outdoor lesson, children carry out a scavenger hunt and then compare the mass of objects, building fluency in measuring mass while recapping their addition and subtraction knowledge in a real-life context.

Learning objective:

To compare mass by using addition and subtraction

Measuring in millilitres and litres

In this hands-on outdoor lesson, children carry out a range of activities allowing them to explore the difference between capacity and volume, and using millilitres and litres for measuring both.

Learning objective:

To measure in millilitres and litres

Comparing capacities and adding and subtracting volumes of liquid

Combine the use of watercolour with the skill of drawing with oil pastels. As part of this outdoor lesson your children will be inspired by pieces of nature to improve their technique of drawing with oil pastels and then use their existing knowledge of watercolour to create a unique work of art.

Learning objective:

To compare capacities and add and subtract volumes of liquid

Before you get started

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