SESSION 1.6A
Weight: Heavier or Lighter?
Math Focus Points
Vocabulary
Understanding what weight is
weigh
heavy/light
weight
heavier/lighter
pan balance
Comparing weights of different objects
Recording measurements with pictures, numbers, and/or words
Counting a set of objects and creating an equivalent set
Today’s Plan
Materials
ACTIVITY
Introducing Weight:
Heavier or Lighter?
10 MIN CLASS
• C4, Comparing Weights Make a
transparency.
• 2–3 collections of 10–12 small objects to
•
MATH WORKSHOP
Comparing Weights
2A
2B
Comparing Weights
Counting Jar
2A
20–25 MIN
DISCUSSION
Comparing Weights
be weighed Label each object with a letter
(e.g., A, B, C) and place each collection in a box.
Pan balance; small shoe
10 MIN CLASS
SESSION FOLLOW-UP
Practice
• Student Activity Book, p. 30A or
C4, Comparing Weights Make copies.
(as needed)
Materials from Activity 1
2B Materials from Session 1.2, p. 33
•
•
• Students’ completed copies of Student Activity
Book, p. 30A or C4 (from Math Workshop)
• Materials from Activity 1
• Student Math Handbook Flip Chart, p. 36
Classroom Routines
Patterns on the Pocket Chart: What Comes Next? Arrange an ABAB repeating pattern
on the pocket chart, using ten pattern blocks (orange square, green triangle, orange
square, green triangle, etc.). Follow the basic Patterns activity. Students hold up the
block that they think is under each Question Mark Card.
Session 1.6A
Weight: Heavier or Lighter?
CC15
1 Activity
2 Math Workshop
3 Discussion
4 Session Follow-Up
AC TIVIT Y
Introducing Weight:
Heavier or Lighter?
10 MIN
CLASS
Display a small shoe.
We have been measuring the length of shoes from heel [point to
the heel of the shoe] to toe [point to the toe of the shoe]. Are
there any other ways we could measure this shoe?
Students might say:
“We can find out how wide it is.”
“You can put cubes across the toes.”
“We can measure how tall it is.”
Try students’ ideas, modeling the use of any new vocabulary
(e.g., width, height, weight) as you do so. If students don’t
suggest it, explain that the shoe’s weight can be measured, also.
We can measure the length of this object. We can also measure
how much it weighs.
Ask students to share what they know about weight and how
people figure out how much something weighs. Students will likely
talk about how much they weigh, bathroom scales, the scale at the
doctor’s office, and perhaps kitchen or grocery store scales.
Use some classroom objects of radically different weights, including
the shoe, to introduce the concepts of heavy and light. Ask several
students to hold first one, and then another object, and to think
about which is heavy and which is light.
When you find out how much something weighs, you think
about how heavy or light it is. Do you think this shoe is heavy or
light? What about this dictionary? Why do you think so?
Today you are going to compare the weights of different objects.
One way to do this is to use our hands or our arms. If I put a
pencil in one hand, and the jar of paste in my other hand, I can
feel their weight.
CC16
INVESTIGATION 1
Measuring and Counting
2 Math Workshop
Ask students to predict which object is heavier, and then
demonstrate comparing the two objects. Lower the arm with the
heavier object and slightly raise the arm with the lighter object.
A pan balance is another tool people use to measure weight.
[Show students a pan balance.] We could use this pan balance to
check and see if I was right that the paste weighs more than the
pencil. I would put one object in one of the pans [point] and the
other object in the other pan [point]. If we were right, what do
you think will happen? Show me with your arms. Which side do
you think will go up and which side will go down?
Model how to place one object on each side of the balance. Ask
students what they notice and what they think it means. Again,
connect this to what happened to your arms when you compared
the two objects.
Model how to record the results using the transparency made from
Comparing Weights (C4). Students should draw the heavier object
on the side of the pan balance that is tilted down. The lighter
object should be drawn on the side of the pan balance that is tilted
up. Some students may prefer to draw the objects, and others may
copy the labels (or letters) from the objects. Be sure students
remember to circle the heavier object.
Show students where to find objects to measure and where to use
the pan balances. 1
3 Discussion
4 Session Follow-Up
Differentiation
1
English Language Learners Support
English Language Learners by previewing
common classroom objects. Have
students say the name of each object and
act out how the object is typically used.
Name
Date
Counting and
Measuring
andComparing
Counting
Comparing Weights
Draw the objects that were weighed.
Circle the object that is heavier.
© Pearson Education K
1 Activity
30A
Unit 4
Session 1.6A
▲ Student Activity Book, Unit 4, p. 30A;
Resource Masters, C4
You and your partner will choose a pair of objects. Then, you will
hold the objects and discuss which object is heavier. When you
agree on which object is heavier, use the pan balance to compare
the two objects and record your results on your recording sheets.
M ATH WORK SHOP
Comparing Weights
20–25 MIN
Explain that the following two activities are available during Math
Workshop. Remind students what each activity entails, what
materials are required, and where they are located.
2A Comparing Weights
PAIRS
Students compare the weight of classroom objects by holding them
and then by using a pan balance. They use pictures or labels to
record the results on Student Activity Book page 30A or C4.
As you observe, watch for any pairs of objects where students
disagree about which object is heavier and lighter, to use in the
discussion at the end of this session.
Session 1.6A
Weight: Heavier or Lighter?
CC17
1 Activity
2 Math Workshop
3 Discussion
4 Session Follow-Up
ONGOING ASSESSMENT: Observing Students at Work
Students compare the weights of two objects using a
pan balance.
t Can students tell which object is heavier by holding
them? Do they hold both objects at once, or one at a time?
t How do students use the balance to compare weights?
Do they put one object on each side? Do they know that the
heavier object is lower? That the lighter object is higher?
t Do students record their comparisons accurately?
DIFFERENTIATION: Supporting the Range of Learners
Some students may need additional practice
comparing the weights of objects. Provide a reference object,
such as a book. Have students hold the book in one hand and
look around the classroom to find an object that is heavier, an
object that is lighter, and one that is about the same weight.
Some students may have difficulty drawing the
objects. Instead, help them write the letter of the object on their
recording sheets.
2B Counting Jar
INDIVIDUALS
For complete details about this activity, see Session 1.2, page 36.
DISCUSSION
Comparing Weights
10 MIN
CLASS
Math Focus Points for Discussion
Comparing weights of different objects
Students should have their results recorded on Student Activity Book
page 30A or C4 available for the discussion. Choose a pair of
objects with very different weights to discuss first.
CC18
INVESTIGATION 1
Measuring and Counting
1 Activity
2 Math Workshop
3 Discussion
4 Session Follow-Up
Who compared the [key] and the [paper clip]? Which is heavier?
Which is lighter? How do know?
Students might say:
“The paper clip side went up and the key
side went down.”
“The heavier thing went down.”
Does the heavier object always move down on the pan balance?
Let’s check another pair of objects.
Invite a volunteer to share his or her results for two different
objects. If different results were found for the same pair of
objects, discuss why the results may be different. Then have the
student demonstrate how he or she measured the objects on the
pan balance.
SESSION FOLLOW-UP
Practice
Student Math Handbook Flip Chart: Use the Student
Math Handbook Flip Chart page 36 to reinforce concepts
from today’s session. See page 190 in the back of Unit 4.
Session 1.6A
Weight: Heavier or Lighter?
CC19