Balancing the Fun – Using Informal Units of Measurement

This simple worksheet has been designed for students to practise using informal units of measurement when measuring the mass / weight of different classroom objects. In this worksheet, students are prompted to choose an informal unit of measurement such as blocks, marbles, cubes or dice. The will need to estimate how many of their chosen informal measurement they think it will take to balance the following items:

• Glue
• Book
• Sticky tape dispenser
• Scissors

Once they have estimated they then need to use balance scales to measure and write the actual amount. Finally, they need to compare the four items and decide which was the heaviest and the lightest of the four objects. To extend students, have them write the reasoning for picking each item to be the heaviest and lightest item on the back of the worksheet.

Further Extension Activities – Differentiation

Looking for more ways to further extend this worksheet for your high-flyer students? Here are some suggestions:

1. Ask students to repeat the activity using different informal units and compare how the units change their estimates and actual measurements. Have them explain the results.
2. After measuring these objects plus more, get students to order them from lightest to heaviest.
3. Provide students with an end weight result and have them find objects that weight the exact amount provided.

Download and Measure Today!

Use the drop down menu to choose between the easy to print PDF version of this resource or the editable Google Slide version.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher and a Teach Starter collaborator.

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