Measuring mass and weight (age 4+)
Compare two objects directly by mass or weight and describe the difference using language such as heavy, light, heavier than, lighter than
Lesson
Set out your lesson
“Weight tells how heavy something is. We can heft two objects in our hands or use a balance. The heavier side goes down. We say heavier than and lighter than.”
Bring to the table
- One heavy book
- One light object such as a feather, crumpled paper, or empty cardboard piece
- Optional: a simple kitchen or toy balance scale
Extra for the adult
Worked example. On a balance, the book side goes down and the feather side goes up, so the book is heavier than the feather.
Optional challenge. Compare two same-size bags or boxes with different fillings so size does not give the answer away, then explain the heft difference.
What to notice. Save a parent note quoting the heavier-than sentence and whether heft, balance, or both were used.
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Teaching approaches
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1 approach
Weight tells how heavy something is. We can heft two objects in our hands or use a balance. The heavier side goes down. We say heavier than and lighter than.
Spend about 10 minutes comparing a heavy book and a light object by heft and optional balance.
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Learning resources
Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
Illustrative Mathematics · Practice link — not the full lesson
Which weighs more? Which weighs less?
Before you open · source notes
Which weighs more? supports comparing mass and weight directly. Not every capacity pouring task.
Free, no sign-in. A teacher solution is on the same page, so use the student view with your child.
Before you openAsk the learner which object weighs more and how they checked.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public Illustrative Mathematics task page. The .html address responds HTTP 308 to this URL. An anonymous GET of this URL on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt. Where a teacher solution is present, it is on the same page as the student task; this check did not find a separate locked student view. An adult can use the student view section and should not read a solution aloud. Advertising was not observed in the fetched HTML text; that is not a browser, device, or ad-free guarantee. This is a paper or discussion task, not an automatically marked interactive game. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. Diagrams on the page use missing or filename-only alt text, so they are not an accessible image equivalent. Accessibility still depends on an adult describing the picture.
Illustrative Mathematics. “Which weighs more? Which weighs less?.” Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. External task; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute it.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — link only
Check understanding
- Heft two objects and say which is heavier/lighter
- Use a simple balance to compare the weight of two objects
- Describe one object as 'heavier than' another
“If your child holds a bag of apples in one hand and a feather in the other, can they tell you which is heavier and use words like "much heavier than" to describe the difference?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Procedural
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Domain
- Measurement
- Age range
- Ages 4–9
Standards