6th grade · Math · Unit 14 of 19
Volume & Capacity
Cubes, liters and milliliters
What your child practices
Finding the volume of rectangular prisms, converting between liters and milliliters, and connecting volume to capacity (1 cm³ holds 1 mL).
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 6.8(C); 6.8(D) · volume of rectangular prisms
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Volume is the space inside a solid, in cubic units like cm³.
- Volume of a rectangular prism = length × width × height.
- 1 cm³ holds 1 mL. 1000 mL is 1 L.
Example: A box is 5 cm long, 4 cm wide and 3 cm high. What is its volume? 5 × 4 = 20. 20 × 3 = 60. Answer: 60 cm³
Volume & Capacity in Texas
In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 14 of 19 in 6th grade Math, after Perimeter & Area and before Four Quadrants.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which unit is best for measuring the capacity of a bathtub?
- kilograms (kg)
- liters (L)
- milliliters (mL)
- centimeters (cm)
liters (L)
Hint: Capacity is how much a container holds. A bathtub holds a lot of water, so use a big capacity unit.
Question 2
A jug holds 3.3 L of lemonade. How many 300 mL glasses can it fill?
🍋3.3 Lanswer box
11
Hint: Change liters to milliliters (× 1000), then divide by 300.
Question 3
Write 4000 mL in liters.
answer boxL
4 L
Hint: 1 L = 1000 mL. To change liters to milliliters, multiply by 1000. To change milliliters to liters, divide by 1000.
Question 4
A box has a volume of 24 cm³. It is 6 cm long and 2 cm wide. How high is it?
answer boxcm
2 cm
Hint: Volume = length × width × height. The base is 6 × 2 = 12 cm², so divide the volume by 12.
Question 5
A fish tank is 20 cm long, 10 cm wide and 10 cm high. 1 cm³ holds 1 mL. How many liters of water does the full tank hold?
answer boxL
2 L
Hint: Find the volume in cm³, which equals the capacity in mL. Then divide by 1000 to change mL to liters.
Question 6
Which box has the greatest volume?
- 5 cm × 8 cm × 10 cm
- 8 cm × 9 cm × 5 cm
- 10 cm × 5 cm × 4 cm
- 4 cm × 4 cm × 3 cm
5 cm × 8 cm × 10 cm
Hint: Work out each volume (length × width × height), then compare. A box can be longer but still hold less.