Math Story : Non Standard Units Of Weight
Who Is Heavy? Who Is Light?
Ding Dong! One summer afternoon, Squarho hears the loud sound of his doorbell.
It is Mr Postman on the door. Mr Postman delivers gifts and parcels in Samper town. “Here is your gift!” he says. Squarho is surprised. It is huge and looks like a playing machine. But who has sent it?
Oh! Long back, Squarho had won a wrestling competition. Mr Postman has delivered the prize of that competition. “Wow!” says Squarho. He is excited. He immediately calls his friends and shares this good news. All the friends want to see Squarho’s prize and decide to come over.
Meanwhile, Squarho sets up the machine so that he can immediately start playing when his friends arrive. Ding Dong! The doorbell rings. “They are here!” says excited Squarho.
“Wow!” say the kids looking at the machine. “I haven’t seen anything like that”, says Cirho. “But how do we play?”, questions Cirha.
“I’ll show you”, says Squarho and sits on one of the plates of the machine. Thudd! It makes a loud sound as it comes down. “Cirho, now you sit on the other plate. Let’s see what happens”, he says.
Cirho sits, but his plate does not come down. Squarho is still down. “I want to come up too”, says Squarho. “There must be something wrong with your plate. Let us change our places”, suggests Cirho. Without thinking much Squarho agrees.
Thudd! Squarho’s plate is down again. He is frustrated now. Why is he not able to come up even when Cirho sat on the other plate? Does this mean anything?
“Let me sit on Cirho’s plate”, suggests Cirha and sits beside Cirho. Thudd! Their plate comes down, and Squarho goes up. “Hurray! This looks interesting”, they say.
“Let me sit on Squarho’s side now and see what happens”, says Triho. Thudd! They come down again. Up, down! Up, down! This goes on for a while.
“This is amazing!” says Triho. “Let us call Uncle Math and show our new game”, says Squarho. Everybody agrees.
Uncle Math is here, and the kids force him to try their game. He sits on one plate, and Triho sits on the other. Nope! Nothing happens. Cirha joins him, and they both come down.
“I am heavier than each of you alone. But when you both sit together, I am lighter than you both combined. Weight tells us how heavy or light the object or person is”, says Uncle Math.
Now, Squarho decides to sit on the other plate. And something strange happens. The plates rest at the same level. “Woohoo! Does that mean Uncle Math and Squarho are of the same weight?” questions Triho. “Yes!” agrees Uncle Math.
They continue their game and see who is heavy and who is light. The plate that goes down indicates more weight, and the plate that goes up indicates less weight. So simple.
“Wait! I have a question”, says Cirha. “Seeing who is heavy or light is fun, but can we actually measure our weights and see how much each of us weigh?” she says. “Oh yes! This would be fun too”, says Uncle Math and goes to grab something. But what?
“Stones? Are we going to measure our weights using stones?” questions Triho. Uncle Math agrees and asks him to sit on the plate. He then starts placing some stones of same size on the other plate until both the plates rest on the same level. “20 stones. Triho’s weight is 20 stones”, announces Uncle Math. The kids are elated.
“I want to go next”, says Cirho. He weighs 24 stones. Cirha goes next and she weighs 22 stones. “Wow, this is fun. Squarho you go next. I am sure you would be heavier than all of us”, laughs Cirha. “28 stones!” Squarho’s weight is 28 stones. Woah!
“Now, do you agree if I am the strongest or not?” flaunts Squarho. Everybody laughs. Undoubtedly he is bulky and powerful. “Since this machine helps us find our weights, let us call it Weighing Machine”, suggests Triho. “Brilliant!” appreciates Uncle Math.
Fun time with Weighing Machine led to some heavy and light discoveries. The day turned out to be a great one because of the curious nature of the kids and the great qualities of Weighing Machine. Would you want to try it to check your weight?
We Learnt That…
- Weight tells us the heaviness or lightness of the object.
- We can measure weight using non-standard units like stones.
- We are better when we work together.
Let’s Discuss
- Who is Weighing Machine?
- What did the machine do?
- How did we find who is heavy or light using Weighing Machine?
Please refer this guide by Fun2Do Labs for teaching measurement of weight to kids :
