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Using a Balance

Using a Balance

TEKS Objective

The student is expected to collect, record, and analyze information using tools, including microscopes, cameras, computers, hand lenses, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, wind vanes, rain gauges, pan balances, graduated cylinders, beakers, spring scales, hot plates, meter sticks, compasses, magnets, collecting nets, notebooks, sound recorders, and Sun, Earth, and Moon system models; timing devices, including clocks and stopwatches; and materials to support observation of habitats of organisms such as terrariums and aquariums.

Essential Understanding

The student knows how to use a variety of tools and methods to conduct science inquiry.

Science Background

Mass vs. Weight: NASA (video) – Build your own understanding of the difference between “mass” and “weight,” with this video produced on the International Space Station.

Mass vs. Weight
NASA, education.ssc.nasa.gov

Tools and Equipment of Science: BioEd Online (video) - Barbara Tharp, MS, explains what types of tools are used in the elementary classroom and how to introduce the proper usage of tools to students.

Tools and Equipment of Science
BioEd Online, www.bioedonline.org

Signature Lesson

What Does a Pan Balance Tell Us About the Weight Order of the Cubes? The Inquiry Project (website) - In this second of a four-lesson unit on weight, students use a pan balance to order and compare cubes by weight.

What Does a Pan Balance Tell us About the Weight Order of the Cubes?
The Inquiry Project, inquiryproject.terc.edu

Supporting Lessons

How Much Does It Weigh? Vermillion Parish School District (website) – Solid and liquids are measured and compared using a pan balance.

How Much Does It Weigh?
Vermillion Parish School District, www.vrml.k12.la.us

Elaboration Lessons and Extensions

The Weight of Things: The National Council of Mathematics Teachers (website) - Students use a pan balance to weigh pairs of objects and record their data.

The Weight of Things
The National Council of Mathematics Teachers, illuminations.nctm.org

Assessment Ideas

Have students bring 5 objects from home and rank their mass by measuring them with a pan balance.

Literature Connections

Millions to Measure, Schwartz, D. (ISBN-13: 978-0688129163)

Weighing the Elephant, Ting-xing, Ye (ISBN-13: 978-1550375275)

Related Science TEKS

(3.1A) Science Safety
The student is expected to demonstrate safe practices as described in the Texas Safety Standards during classroom and outdoor investigations, including observing a schoolyard habitat.

(3.1B) Recycling/Disposal of Science Materials
The student is expected to make informed choices in the use and conservation of natural resources by recycling or reusing materials such as paper, aluminum cans, and plastics.

(3.2A) Plan and Implement Descriptive Investigation
The student is expected to plan and implement descriptive investigations, including asking and answering questions, making inferences, and selecting and using equipment or technology needed, to solve a specific problem in the natural world.

(3.2B) Collect Data
The student is expected to collect data by observing and measuring using the metric system and recognize differences between observed and measured data.

(3.2C) Graphs, Tables, Charts
The student is expected to construct maps, graphic organizers, simple tables, charts, and bar graphs using tools and current technology to organize, examine, and evaluate measured data.

(3.2D) Analyze Evidence and Explain
The student is expected to analyze and interpret patterns in data to construct reasonable explanations based on evidence from investigations.

(3.2E) Value of Repeated Experiments
The student is expected to demonstrate that repeated investigations may increase the reliability of results.

(3.2F) Communicate Conclusions
The student is expected to communicate valid conclusions supported by data in writing, by drawing pictures, and through verbal discussion.

(3.4B) Safety Equipment
The student is expected to use safety equipment as appropriate, including safety goggles and gloves.

Related Math TEKS

3.13A  The student is expected to collect, organize, record, and display data in pictographs and bar graphs where each picture or cell might represent more than one piece of data.

3.13B  The student is expected to interpret information from pictographs and bar graphs.

Additional Resources

Cyber Chase Poddle Weigh In: PBS Kids (website) – This interactive game challenges student to determine the mass of different creatures called poddles.

Cyber Chase Poddle Weigh In
PBS Kids, pbskids.org

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