Unit Conversions

Lesson 9

Math

Unit 7

4th Grade

Lesson 9 of 12

Objective


Solve multi-step word problems involving conversion of customary units of length, weight, capacity, and time.

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.1
  • 3.MD.A.2
  • 4.OA.A.3

Criteria for Success


  1. Make sense of a three-act task and persevere in solving it (MP.1).
  2. Solve multi-step word problems involving customary units of length, weight, capacity, and time (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

Act 1: Look at the following image - 

a.   What do you notice? What do you wonder?

b.   How much apple juice is left in the carton? Make an estimate.

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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Problem 2

Act 2: Use the following information to determine how much apple juice is left in the carton.

  • Here is how much juice was in the carton originally:

  • Someone has already had four servings of juice, each of which are 10 fluid ounces.

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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Problem 3

Act 3: Watch How Much Apple Juice - Act 3 to see the solution.

Was your estimate reasonable? Why or why not?

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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Problem 4

Act 4 (the sequel): 

How many more full servings of juice are left in the bottle?

Guiding Questions

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Student Response

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Problem Set

15-20 minutes


Discussion of Problem Set

  • For #3, is 3 quarts 24 fluid ounces a correct answer? Why or why not? 
  • For #4, is 28 pounds 39 ounces a correct answer? Why or why not? 
  • How did you determine how many 15-minute jogs Calvin took? What made this problem particularly challenging to solve? 
  • If you were asked to find the area of Mr. Foote’s deck in #6, what additional computation would you need to perform? 
  • Will there be enough water in #7?
  • In #8, when should Ms. Cho leave? Why? 
  • Some students use strategies that are creative and much different compared to the majority of the class. How can a student be sure their strategy works? 

Target Task

5-10 minutes


Elysia, Ivan, and Silvio each go on a run. Elysia ran 1 mile. Elysia ran four times as far as Ivan. Silvio ran 5 fewer yards than Ivan. How far, in feet, did Silvio run?

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 fractional measurements in terms of a smaller unit.

Lesson 10
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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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