Gallon Man Saves the Day.
The "gallon man" is a graphic organizer that helps students visualize and remember the contents of a gallon. It makes conversions from pints to quarts etc., and it is very easy for students to use.
A lesson plan for grade 4 Mathematics
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Learning outcomes
Students will:
- discover the amounts that are equivalent to 1 pint, 1 cup, 1 quart, and 1 gallon through a simple hands-on activity.
- draw and use the gallon man after a short amount of guided practice.
Teacher planning
Time required for lesson
90 minutes
Materials/resources
- Access to water
- 3 one gallon containers
- 4 one quart containers
- 8 one pint containers
- 16 one cup containers
- Chalk, Board, Overhead etc…
- Pencil/Paper
Technology resources
None
Pre-activities
- Students should brainstorm and list all of the standard units of liquid measure.
- After students have listed cups, pints, quarts, and gallons they should list them in order from least to greatest if they can.
- Estimate how many cups in a pint, pints in a quart, quarts in a gallon etc.
- Read supplemental resources / Information for teachers ahead of time.
Activities
- The class should be divided into three groups.
- One group should have the 16 cups, one group should have the 8 pints, one group should have the 4 quarts.
- After they have their particular measuring unit, you should give each group a one gallon container filled with water.
- Allow the students to pour the water from the gallon into their particular measuring unit. As the students discover the different amounts, have the students record their findings.
- Allow students to see how many cups are in a pint, pints are in a quart, quarts are in a gallon.
- After they have “discovered” the correct equivalent measures, show them the Gallon Man organizer.
Assessment
Students should be able to draw the gallon man.
Students should be able to make simple conversions with ease.
Use a worksheet with coversions from cups to gallons etc. (The students will be suprised at how easy the Gallon Man makes these conversions.)
Supplemental information
The “Gallon Man” is a large capital G. You draw four capital Q’s inside the “G”. You draw two capital P’s inside the of each Q. You place two lower case c’s inside each capital P.
After you have drawn your “gallon man”, you can simply look at it and make coversions easily.
Related websites
N/A
Comments
This was a great idea that a good friend and colleague shared with me. It has helped my students tremendously. I hope that it will be beneficial to you as well.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Mathematics (2004)
Grade 4
- Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will read, write, model, and compute with non-negative rational numbers.
- Objective 1.01: Develop number sense for rational numbers 0.01 through 99,999.
- Connect model, number word, and number using a variety of representations.
- Build understanding of place value (hundredths through ten thousands).
- Compare and order rational numbers.
- Make estimates of rational numbers in appropriate situations.
- Objective 1.05: Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil.
- Objective 1.01: Develop number sense for rational numbers 0.01 through 99,999.
