Math Story : Standard Units Of Weight
Squarho’s Baking Competition
It is an important day for Squarho. He is taking part in Samper town’s baking competition. The baking competition is about baking the largest cake. Whoever bakes the largest cake wins a cash prize of 5,000 fun coins and a baking contract for one year.
Squarho loves baking and has been prepping for the competition for a long time. He wishes to win it. “I will use the prize money to start a fitness centre for the entire town”, he says. All his friends love his vision and are here to support him for the competition.
It is the competition day. Squarho cross-checks if he has got the required ingredients. Suddenly, he is anxious. “I forgot to get the
chocolate cubes to bake the chocolate cake”, he says. Oh no! What will he do now? The competition is about to begin.
Squarho has learnt to control his behaviour under stress. “Huff 1, huff 2, huff 3, huff 4, huff 5!” He takes five deep breaths to stay calm. “I will quickly go and get it for you”, says Cirho. “Thanks a lot, Cirho. I need chocolate cubes that weigh about 10 stones”, says Squarho. Cirho leaves to go to the nearest store.
Cirho is back with the chocolates. But Squarho gets furious looking at him! But why? “Cirho! These are too few. I am sure they weigh less than 10 stones”, he screams. Cirho is puzzled. He did see the weight. It was 10 stones. To manage his stress, Squarho takes some deep breaths.
Triho asks Squarho to show the stones he used for her measurement. “Oh no! These are bigger stones. Cirho used smaller stones to measure the chocolate. What do we do now? There is very little time left”, he says. Suddenly they hear a voice saying, “No fear when I am here!” Can you guess who it is?
The kids are elated. Yes, Uncle Math is here to help them. “To avoid such confusion, standard units of weights are needed”, he says. “What do you mean by standard units?” questions Triho. “To have uniformity in measurements, standard units of measurement were introduced and are followed by everyone”, explains Uncle Math.
“Meet Mr Gram! He will help us”, says Uncle Math. He places some chocolate cubes on it and displays the quantity in some numbers and letters. “What does this mean”, asks Triho pointing at them. “g means gram. Gram is the most common weight measurement unit”, explains Uncle Math.
Squarho, who is relieved now, says, “Oh! That means Cirho got 250 g (grams) of chocolate for the cake. 250 g is very less. This will not help me make the largest cake. I’ll need more”, he says. Triho and Cirho rush to get more chocolate from the store.
Triho and Cirho are back with a lot of chocolate. Uncle Math and the kids quickly place the chocolates on Mr Gram to measure it.
The readings on Mr Gram are increasing. It moves from 250 g, 450 g, 850 g, and finally 1,000 g. But something strange happens
as it touches 1,000 g.
“Uncle Math! Mr Gram is not working properly”, panics Cirho. Uncle Math asks Cirho to explain what he means. “The reading on
Mr Gram changed from 1,000 g to 1 kg! See yourself”, says Cirho.
“Haha! Kg means kilogram. 1 kilogram is equal to 1,000 grams. That’s why the reading changed to 1 kg when you poured a larger quantity of chocolate for the cake”, explains Uncle Math. “Oh! Does that mean we use kg to weigh larger quantities?” asks Squarho.
“Exactly! We use grams(g) to measure smaller quantities and kilograms(kg) to measure large quantities”, explains Uncle Math. “Oh great! This will also help me measure the flour and other quantities required for the cake. Perfect!” says Squarho. He quickly measures all the quantities and is ready to bake the largest cake.
The competition begins. All the participants are working really hard to win the competition. Squarho keeps drinking water and taking deep breaths to stay calm in a stressful situation. His cake looks delicious. “He is going to win!” says Triho confidently.
The time is up! Squarho’s cake is also ready! One by one all the participants present their cakes to the judges on their flying table.
It is Squarho’s turn now. He quickly places his cake on Mr Gram. The gadget displays “50kg”. Wow! Squarho has baked a cake that
weighs 50 kg. Amazing! The judges are impressed too. Do you think he will win the competition?
“The winner is Squarho!” announces one of the judges. Squarho is elated. Triho and Cirho jump with joy.
Squarho receives the prize. His hard work has paid off today. Cirho cannot keep calm and immediately gets to eat the cake. Others join him. Mr Gram made everything so easy and fun for everyone. Perfect competition with perfect people and perfect celebrations.
We Learnt That…
- Non-standard units of measuring weight are not a perfect way
to measure weight. - Standard weight units are gram (g) and kilogram (kg).
- 1,000 grams make 1 kilogram.
- Whenever in stress, take some deep breaths to relax and calm
down.
Let’s Discuss
- Even when Cirho got the required quantity of chocolates, why
- did it not match my requirements?
- How did Uncle Math help me?
- What are the standard units of measurement of weight?
- How did I handle the stress?
Please refer this guide by Fun2Do Labs for teaching measurement of weight to kids :
