Katie’s Water Station

Katie made a water station for the toy animals in the garden. Dad put a wide basin on the ground. Katie found a tall narrow jug and a short wide jug. “Which one holds more?” she asked.

“The tall one looks bigger,” said Katie. Dad set both empty jugs inside the basin. “We can test them with water,” he said. “What could help us compare them fairly?” Katie picked up a small cup.

She used the cup to fill the tall narrow jug. One full cup. Then another full cup. The water reached the top. “Two cups fill this jug,” she said. Dad emptied it back into the basin.

Katie filled the short wide jug with the same cup. One full cup. Two full cups. There was still space. She added a third full cup. Now the water reached the top without spilling over.

“The short jug holds three cups,” said Katie. “The tall jug holds two. The short jug holds more!” She looked at its wide middle. “I could not tell just by looking at how tall it was.”

Katie tried a much bigger cup. Dad paused. “Would one big cup mean the same amount as one small cup?” Katie compared them. “No. We need the same cup when we compare our two jugs.”

They used the small cup again to check. Two full cups filled the tall jug. Three full cups filled the short jug. “The short jug holds one small cup more,” said Katie. “Now our test is fair.”

Katie gave the toy elephant a pretend drink beside the basin. Dad helped her empty the water onto thirsty garden soil. “Looking gave me an idea,” she said. “Measuring helped me find out!”