Mathematics 5 curriculum guide 2015 I table of contents acknowledgements

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MATHEMATICS 5 CURRICULUM GUIDE 2015
Specific Outcomes
MEASUREMENT
Suggestions for Teaching and Learning
Students will be expected to:
Shape and Space (Measurement)
5SS3 Demonstrate an 
understanding of volume by: 
• selecting and justifying referents 
for cm³ or m³ units
• estimating volume using 
referents for cm³ or m³
• measuring and recording 
volume (cm³ and m³)
• constructing right rectangular 
prisms for a given volume.
[C, CN, ME, PS, R, V]
Students have not had previous formal experience with volume or 
capacity. 
Volume and capacity are both terms for measures of the ‘size’ of three-
dimensional regions. Volume is the amount of space occupied by a 
3-dimensional object and capacity is how much the 3-D shape will hold. 
Students explore the idea that one object has more volume than another 
if it is bigger or takes up more space. In Grade 5, the objects used for all 
of these explorations will be rectangular prisms. 
Standard units of volume are expressed in cubic units: cubic 
centimetres, cubic metres, etc.
Achievement Indicators:
5SS3.1 Identify the cube as the 
most efficient unit for measuring 
volume and explain why.
Involving students in a hands-on activity to explore the volume of a 
given box should help them identify the cube as the most efficient unit 
for measuring volume. In order to reach this conclusion, they must 
also be exposed to measuring volume using other objects like marbles or 
styrofoam peanuts.
Ask groups of two to three students to determine the volume of a given 
box by first filling it with marbles and recording this number. Then 
have them fill the box with cubes and record the number. Compare and 
explain the differences. 
5SS3.2 Determine the volume 
of a given 3-D object, using 
manipulatives, and explain the 
strategy.
After this experience, students should estimate the volume of a variety 
of different sized boxes. Using cubes to fill the boxes will help students 
understand why the volume is recorded in cubic units.
Having different groups measure volume using different sized cubes 
will yield different results. This should lead to a discussion of the 
importance of using the same unit for measuring. This leads well into 
the introduction of the cubic centimetre and cubic metre as standard 
units.

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