Make capacity meaningful, practical and engaging with Potion Lab — a hands-on mathematics investigation designed to take students from early conceptual understanding through to formal measurement, conversion and problem solving.
Rather than every student completing the same activity, Potion Lab provides multiple entry points so teachers can begin at the level that best matches each learner’s understanding and move them forward when they are ready.
Students explore capacity using real containers, informal units, measuring cups and jugs while estimating, measuring, comparing, recording and explaining their thinking. More confident learners can extend their understanding by working with millilitres and litres, converting between units and scaling their own potion recipes.
The resource follows five stages of learning:
Explore → Develop → Apply → Extend → Challenge
Across the progression, students can:
describe, compare and order capacity
measure using informal units
select and justify appropriate measuring tools
measure accurately using mL and L
read and interpret measurement scales
convert between millilitres and litres
scale recipes using multiplication and division
record, organise and compare results
solve real-world capacity problems
Included in this resource:
Teacher overview and learning progression, five differentiated hands-on investigations, learning intentions and success criteria, key vocabulary, discussion and challenge prompts, recording sheets, a Potion Recipe Creator and a Teacher Assessment Snapshot.
Designed for flexible classroom use, students do not need to begin at Explore. Teachers can use the progression to identify an appropriate starting point and provide support or extension as needed.
Curriculum aligned: Australian Curriculum and Victorian Curriculum 2.0.
Digital download – PDF resource.
Make capacity meaningful, practical and engaging with Potion Lab — a hands-on mathematics investigation designed to take students from early conceptual understanding through to formal measurement, conversion and problem solving.
Rather than every student completing the same activity, Potion Lab provides multiple entry points so teachers can begin at the level that best matches each learner’s understanding and move them forward when they are ready.
Students explore capacity using real containers, informal units, measuring cups and jugs while estimating, measuring, comparing, recording and explaining their thinking. More confident learners can extend their understanding by working with millilitres and litres, converting between units and scaling their own potion recipes.
The resource follows five stages of learning:
Explore → Develop → Apply → Extend → Challenge
Across the progression, students can:
describe, compare and order capacity
measure using informal units
select and justify appropriate measuring tools
measure accurately using mL and L
read and interpret measurement scales
convert between millilitres and litres
scale recipes using multiplication and division
record, organise and compare results
solve real-world capacity problems
Included in this resource:
Teacher overview and learning progression, five differentiated hands-on investigations, learning intentions and success criteria, key vocabulary, discussion and challenge prompts, recording sheets, a Potion Recipe Creator and a Teacher Assessment Snapshot.
Designed for flexible classroom use, students do not need to begin at Explore. Teachers can use the progression to identify an appropriate starting point and provide support or extension as needed.
Curriculum aligned: Australian Curriculum and Victorian Curriculum 2.0.
Digital download – PDF resource.
