Weigh and Measure with Balance Scales: Exploring Science
Bring balance to your classroom science lessons with a weighing and measuring activity. Students love hands-on activities and using a balance in the classroom is a great way to help your young learners explore science while promoting language arts, math, and writing.
Before Your Lesson Starts
This activity works best with ready-to-go worksheets (see the pictures below) that feature three different visuals: equal to, heavier, and lighter. Have enough copies for each student to use all three variations. Then gather rice, erasers, paper clips, cotton balls, pennies, and golf balls, and place the supplies in small tubs so that the students can compare the different materials to see how the scales react. Next have a calibrated balance scale ready for use.
Let’s Get Ready for Science!
I always start this activity as a whole group. We discuss how a balance works, and I introduce science and math vocabulary such as mass, weigh, measure, calibrate, equal to, greater than, and less than. Using a balance scale, the group picks two of the materials to compare. I ask for predictions from the students and have them explain their predictions. Then volunteers from the class place the materials on the balance. Students are called on to express verbally what they can see has happened visually. Next I have my little scientists record the results on the correct sheet. Then I lead the discussion to figure out why the prediction was right or wrong.
Differentiation for Disabilities
Differentiation comes easy for this activity as students can either record the results by writing, drawing, or even just placing the items onto their work sheet. This is great for your students with disabilities so they have different options to express their understanding of the activity. If you are collecting documentation for your students’ portfolios and your students have displayed their work through object representation, take a digital picture of their work and load it into their portfolio. Easy peasy.
Extend Your Lesson
After using this activity in the whole group circle time, I make it available during my station activities. The same worksheets are used, the same balance, and the same supplies are put out cutting my workload down while still providing a worthwhile activity for the students to explore. I also pull some extra supplies from my science and math kits such as counting bears, unit fix cubes, pattern blocks, shells, and rocks for the kids to do additional science experiments with.
Get your ready-to-print
Weigh & Measure Balance Scale Worksheets
