Maryland Math 3.GR.A.3
The Standard
Measure and estimate liquid volumes and masses of objects using standard units of liters(l), grams (g), and kilograms (kg).
Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for Mathematics (2025) · SOLVE PROBLEMS INVOLVING MEASUREMENT AND ESTIMATION OF INTERVALS OF TIME, LIQUID, AND MASSES OF OBJECTS.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students estimate how much liquid a container holds and how heavy an object is. They check with a marked jug and a scale, then record the measurements in liters, grams, or kilograms.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can estimate and measure water in a pitcher using liters. They can read a scale in grams for a pencil or kilograms for a backpack and tell whether the result makes sense.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may use liters to describe how heavy a bottle is, or kilograms to describe how much it holds. They may choose grams for a backpack, misread a jug's markings, or forget to zero the scale.
How to Assess It
- Set out water in a marked liter jug, a pencil, and a kitchen scale. Ask students to estimate both amounts, then record the water's volume in liters and the pencil's mass in grams.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Pairs pour water to the 1 L mark on a jug, then weigh a pencil in grams and a bag of rice in kilograms.
Show a 1 L jug and a 1 kg bag of rice; ask, "Why can't we measure the jug's capacity in kilograms?"
Play unit sort with picture cards of a full pitcher, a paper clip, and a backpack; students match each to liters, grams, or kilograms.
Give students a grocery flyer and ask them to find one item labeled in liters, one in grams, and one in kilograms.
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Printable 3.GR.A.3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 3.GR.A.3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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