Misconception on capacity may arise among the students while teaching Volume of liquid especially when comparing capacity of two containers that can hold more. Students often make the comparison on height rather than capacity. According to the article of National Centre for Excellent in The Teaching of Mathematics, children often believe that the amount of liquid will be changed when the same amount has been poured from one container to another of a different size. They believe that there is more liquid in the one that has the highest level.
The common misconceptions in volume and capacity of liquid are as follow:
Misconception 1: Mathematical language
The students are basically having confusion between liquid volume and capacity. Only containers have capacity. The capacity of a container is the maximum volume of liquid that it can hold. Hence capacity is measured in the same units as liquid volume. Thus, a wine glass may have a capacity to hold 250ml, but the liquid volume of the wine may only be 150ml.
Misconception 2: Conservation of liquid
Students often believe that the amount of liquid has changed when a set amount has been poured from one container to another of a different size. They believe that there is more liquid in the one that has the highest level.
Misconception 3 : Reading Scales
Some students pick the container up and fail to keep it vertical when reading the scale. Some students read the scale by looking at the value at the top of the meniscus (curve in the surface of a liquid, produced in response to the surface of the container or another object. It can be either concave or convex). Some students read the scale from different heights so that parallax (difference of orientation of an object viewed along two different lines of sight) occurs. Some students do not understand the measurement between marked divisions on a scale. Teachers need to ensure that students have the opportunity to use and read a range of measuring scales on real containers with different scales in different orientations. Encourage students to make sure that they have the container on a flat surface and are looking at the liquid at the same level. They must ensure that they are looking at the base of the meniscus. Encouraging students to estimate liquid volume before measuring will support some of these activities.
Liquid practice can be messy, so use water, and practice in an area that you can easily clean. Before teaching the child to measure with liquids, pour some water into a container, such as a clean milk jug so they will be able to practice pouring from one container into another. Ask them pour the water carefully into a measuring cup.
The overriding message for enhancing children’s learning in capacity as with all measures is that children should be engaged in practical activities not paper-based ones.
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