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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

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