Are you wanting to provide your students with lots of opportunities to read scales to measure mass? Do you find it difficult to locate sets of scales and weights in your school? While using actual scales is the ideal situation, we all know that this is not always possible or practical. So – we have the perfect solution for you!

Weigh in on Measuring!

We’ve created four different weighing scales templates. There are two sets of kitchen scales with circular dials, one set of kitchen scales with a linear window and one set of bathroom scales.

These metric scales use a variety of graduations:

• with intervals every 250 g
• with intervals every 50 g
• with intervals every 200 g
• with intervals every 500 g.

Preparation of the Scales

For added durability, after printing this resource, adhere the components to thick cardboard.

Prepare the circular kitchen scales by cutting out and attaching the needles to the scales with split pins. For the linear kitchen scales, cut out the slider and make 2 cuts as indicated on the scales, then thread the slider into position. For the bathroom scales, cut out the large circular dial and, on the scales themselves, remove the section as indicated. Poke a split pin through the scales and the dial so that the graduations can be seen through the window.

Multiple Uses…

These scales could be used in a whole class activity or in small groups/pairs. In each case, one person (either teacher or student) nominates a mass to be shown on the scales. Students in the group could either all have identical scales, or, depending on the weight nominated, could use different scales to measure the mass in grams or kilograms.

If you’re looking for other resources related to reading scales, try one of these:

teaching resource

Reading Scales – Measuring Mass Match-Up Worksheet

A worksheet to give students practice at reading scales to measure mass.

teaching resource

Reading Scales – Measuring Mass Worksheet

A worksheet for students to use when learning to read scaled instruments to measure mass.

teaching resource

I Have, Who Has? Game – Measuring Mass with Scales

A game to reinforce the skill of reading scaled instruments when measuring mass.

teaching resource

Weighing Scales Templates – Fish Scales

An assortment of weighing scales templates to give students practice at reading scales to measure mass.