NCERT Class 3 Maths (Maths Mela) · Chapter 11
Filling and Lifting
Capacity (how much a container holds) and weight (heavy or light): litres, kilograms, halves and quarters, and pan-balance puzzles.
📌 What you’ll learn in this chapter
- Comparing how much different containers hold
- Filling a big container using small ones
- The litre, half litre, and quarter litre
- Heavy and light, and using a pan balance
- The kilogram, half kilogram, and quarter kilogram
🥛 Let’s Begin: Who Got More Milk?
Three children get milk in different glasses: one tall and thin, one short and wide, one small. Who got the most? Hard to tell by looking!
Didi pours each into same-size glasses. Now it’s easy: the highest level has the most milk.
🪣 Part 1: Capacity
Capacity is how much a container can hold. A small container needs to be poured many times to fill a big one.
If 2 ladles fill a bowl, 2 bowls fill a glass, and 2 glasses fill a jug: a glass = 4 ladles, and a jug = 8 ladles!
The litre
- Milk, water, and oil are measured in litres.
- 2 half-litre mugs = 1 litre · 4 quarter-litre glasses = 1 litre
- A bucket holds many litres. A glass holds less than a quarter litre.
💡 Save water
Making one plastic water bottle uses a lot of water. Carry your own reusable bottle!
⚖️ Part 2: Heavy and Light
Hold a book in one hand and a pencil box in the other. The hand with the heavier thing goes down. A pan balance works the same way: the heavier side goes down.
⚠️ Common mistake
Thinking bigger is always heavier. A big balloon is lighter than a small cricket ball!
The kilogram
- Salt, rice, and flour are sold in kilograms (kg).
- 2 half-kg packets = 1 kg · 4 quarter-kg packets = 1 kg
✏️ Practice Time
Try these on your own first, then check your answer below each question.
Q1. How many quarter-litre glasses fill a 1 litre bottle?
✅ Answer4
Q2. Which is heavier: a pumpkin or a lemon?
✅ AnswerPumpkin
Q3. 2 packets balance a 1 kg salt packet. How much does each packet weigh?
✅ AnswerHalf a kilogram
📘 NCERT Textbook Activity Help
Hints and answers for the activities in the textbook, page by page. Try each one yourself before looking at the answer!
Page 139 · Juice challengeWhy not take the challenge?
✅ AnswerChintu refuses because the challenge uses bigger glasses. 6 big glasses hold much more juice than 6 small ones, which is too much to drink!
Pages 140–141 · Whose glass holds more?Milk in same-sized glasses
✅ AnswerLook at the milk level in the three same-sized glasses. The fullest one shows who drank the most. In the picture, Ritu’s big glass gives the most and Nita’s small glass the least. So Nita’s glass holds less than Monu’s, Monu’s holds more than Nita’s, and Ritu’s holds more than Nita’s. Check the levels in your book to confirm.
Bowl, glass, and bottle activity: the small bowl holds the least, and the bottle holds the most. Buckets, pots, and drums hold more than a bottle.
Page 142 · Lemonade stallBowl, glass, and bottle activity: the small bowl holds the least, and the bottle holds the most. Buckets, pots, and drums hold more than a bottle.
Ladles, bowls, glasses, and jugs
✅ AnswerThe pictures show: 2 ladles fill a bowl, 2 bowls fill a glass, and a jug fills 2 glasses.
1. 2 ladles 2. 2 glasses 3. 1 bowl (or 2 ladles) 4. The jug, because it pours easily into glasses 5. 3 jugs → 6 glasses 6. 1 glass = 4 ladles, so 4 glasses = 16 ladles 7. Yes. Count how many ladles, bowls, or glasses fill the jug (8 ladles, 4 bowls, or 2 glasses).
Pages 143–144 · Measuring bottle1. 2 ladles 2. 2 glasses 3. 1 bowl (or 2 ladles) 4. The jug, because it pours easily into glasses 5. 3 jugs → 6 glasses 6. 1 glass = 4 ladles, so 4 glasses = 16 ladles 7. Yes. Count how many ladles, bowls, or glasses fill the jug (8 ladles, 4 bowls, or 2 glasses).
More or less than 1 litre
✅ AnswerMilkmen use measuring cups so that everyone gets the right amount. (a) The glass holds less than 1 litre (b) The bowl holds less than 1 litre (c) The jug holds exactly 1 litre.
In the picture, the mug holds half a litre and the glass holds a quarter litre. A bucket holds more than 1 litre.
Pages 145–148 · Heavy or lightIn the picture, the mug holds half a litre and the glass holds a quarter litre. A bucket holds more than 1 litre.
Balance and kilograms
✅ AnswerChintu’s hand with the 3 books is lower, because they are heavier. Usually: the lunch box is heavier than the pencil box, the school bag is heavier than the lunch bag, the watermelon is heavier than the apple, and the basketball is heavier than the air balloon.
A bag with more books is heavier, so moving a book can make two bags about the same.
Things marked 1 kg: salt, sugar, or atta packets.
Balance: (a) 2 daal packets balance 1 kg, so each is a half kilogram. (b) 4 tea packets balance 1 kg, so each is a quarter kilogram.
Page 149 · Tricky ballsA bag with more books is heavier, so moving a book can make two bags about the same.
Things marked 1 kg: salt, sugar, or atta packets.
Balance: (a) 2 daal packets balance 1 kg, so each is a half kilogram. (b) 4 tea packets balance 1 kg, so each is a quarter kilogram.
Find the heavy ball
✅ Answer1. Put one ball on each pan and keep the third aside. If one pan goes down, that ball is heavy. If they balance, the ball you kept aside is the heavy one. You need to weigh only once!
2. Compare red and orange, then orange and green (and red and green if needed). The ball that goes down every time is the heaviest, and the one that goes up every time is the lightest. It takes 2 or 3 weighings.
2. Compare red and orange, then orange and green (and red and green if needed). The ball that goes down every time is the heaviest, and the one that goes up every time is the lightest. It takes 2 or 3 weighings.
👨👩👧 Tips for Parents
- Fill a 1 litre bottle with a small glass, and count the glasses.
- Compare the weights of kitchen things by holding them in both hands.
- Read “1 kg” and “500 g” on packets together.