Mass, Capacity, Temperature - Four operations with volume - Planning

In the Year 2 curriculum, a lesson on the four operations with volume offers students the opportunity to explore and understand the concept of volume and its practical applications. The lesson begins with a starter activity that prompts students to recall their previous knowledge about volume, using part-whole models to compare different volumes. During the class teaching input, children engage with a visual scale to identify midpoints between numbers, which aids in developing their understanding of volume measurement. The teacher facilitates the activity by having the children use mini whiteboards to record their answers, and small groups work together to complete the scale.

Further activities encourage students to use part-whole models and bar models to solve problems involving volume. For instance, they must determine the missing part of a model where one part is given as 17 and the whole as 75, choosing between addition and subtraction to find the answer. The lesson also includes reasoning exercises, such as calculating how much water can fill a barrel when given the volume of water in buckets. Differentiated worksheets allow for independent learning tailored to the students' abilities. The lesson aims to address common misconceptions, such as the confusion between operations in multi-step problems. The plenary session concludes with a reflective 'Give me five' activity, where students assess their learning and identify the skills they have used and need to remember, ranging from basic volume calculation to more complex multi-step reasoning questions.