Curriculum  /  Math  /  4th Grade  /  Unit 7: Unit Conversions  /  Lesson 4

Unit Conversions

Lesson 4

Math

Unit 7

4th Grade

Lesson 4 of 12

Objective

Solve multi-step word problems that requires metric unit conversions of length, mass, and capacity.

Common Core Standards

Core Standards

  • 4.MD.A.2 — Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams such as number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.

Foundational Standards

  • 3.MD.A.2
  • 4.OA.A.3

Criteria for Success

  1. Solve multi-step word problems that require metric unit conversions of length, mass, and capacity (MP.4).

Tips for Teachers

Let students work on each problem in the Problem Set independently and circulate to see whether students are solving correctly. If not, come back together to discuss how/what to draw on a tape diagram, then allow them to try again on their own. 

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Anchor Tasks

25-30 minutes

Problem 1

Jennifer, Leon, and Veronica get to the airport for their trip. They see this on their ticket:

The weight of their bags is listed below.

Suitcase Mass
Blue 26 kg
Black 20 kg 40 g
Gray 23,975 g

a.   Are each of their bags within the weight limit? If not, which ones exceed it?

b.   Can they rearrange the contents of their bags so that they are all under the weight limit?

c.   If so, how much weight under the limit will they be in total? If not, what might be an object they packed that they could take out of their suitcases to be under the limit?

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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Problem 2

Here are six water bottle sizes and four clues about the amount of water they each hold.

  • One bottle holds 350 mL. 
  • A bottle in size B holds 5 times as much water as the bottle that holds 1 L.
  • The largest bottle holds 20 times the amount of water in the smallest bottle. 
  • One bottle holds 1,500 mL, which is 3 times as much water as a bottle in size E.

Use the clues to find out the amount of water, in mL, that each bottle size holds. Be prepared to explain or show your reasoning.

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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References

Illustrative Mathematics Grade 4 Unit 5 Lesson 10 Activity 2

Grade 4 Unit 5 Lesson 10 Activity 2, accessed on Aug. 21, 2023, 3:40 p.m., is licensed by Illustrative Mathematics under either the CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. For further information, contact Illustrative Mathematics.

Problem Set

15-20 minutes

Discussion of Problem Set

  • How did you determine how much apple juice Lisa put in the glass in #2? 
  • How many total grams of corn did Farmer Asmed sell in #6? How did you solve? 

Target Task

5-10 minutes

Problem 1

The average fourth grader is about three times as tall as the average newborn baby. If babies are on average 45 cm 7 mm when they are born, what is the height of the average fourth grader?

Student Response

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Problem 2

Jeff is making fruit punch. The recipe includes equal amounts of mango and pineapple juice and 490 mL of orange juice. If the recipe makes 1 L 50 mL, how much of each of the mango and pineapple juices are in the recipe? 

Student Response

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Additional Practice

The Extra Practice Problems can be used as additional practice for homework, during an intervention block, etc. Daily Word Problems and Fluency Activities are aligned to the content of the unit but not necessarily to the lesson objective, therefore feel free to use them anytime during your school day.

Word Problems and Fluency Activities

Word Problems and Fluency Activities

Help students strengthen their application and fluency skills with daily word problem practice and content-aligned fluency activities.

Next

Express customary length measurements in terms of a smaller unit, recording measurement equivalents in a two-column table. Solve one-step word problems that require customary length unit conversion.

Lesson 5
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Lesson Map

A7CB09C2-D12F-4F55-80DB-37298FF0A765

Topic A: Metric Unit Conversion

Topic B: Customary Unit Conversion

Topic C: Fraction and Decimal Unit Conversions

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