MathematicsMeasurementAges 5–9

Measuring mass and weight

Measure and begin to record mass/weight using non-standard and standard units

Lesson

Set out your lesson

Compare mass with a balance, record equal-unit mass and read a supplied simple gram scale.

Before teaching

Activity

Distinguish lower/higher and count equal units. Explain that size alone need not determine heaviness.

Policy

Directed source edges are preserved, not assumed completed. If the readiness probe is difficult, model with support and record supported practice instead of independent evidence.

Printer, credit, and teaching notes

Materials

Use the supplied stage-specific structured materials. Optional real balance and equal blocks or known masses; never balance on fragile or improvised sharp supports. Supplied mass-scales.svg permits a safe paper-only reasoning task.

Order

Show, guided, put teaching sheet aside, then task sheets in order; adult keys remain private.

Access

No printing or cutting is required unless explicitly choosing a physical construction. Exact paper alternatives are in each material; adaptations change the evidence mode as stated.

Materials are ready in each step. Use them on screen or print just the current step. Put teaching examples aside before the learner tries.

Next: Show

Adult extras

What this lesson covers and its limits

These are bounded opportunities, not learner attainment. Partial and blocked source requirements remain so.

partial: Measure and begin to record mass/weight using non-standard and standard units
Mass comparison and notation; practical use requires real observation. No equivalence between arbitrary blocks and grams, and no fabricated measured weights. This is a bounded task opportunity, not established attainment or automatic use across contexts.
partial: Use a balance to compare masses of two objects
Mapped task(s) offer this clause only within the supplied examples. Mass comparison and notation; practical use requires real observation. No equivalence between arbitrary blocks and grams, and no fabricated measured weights. No attainment or automatic/general performance is claimed.
partial: Measure mass using non-standard units (e.g. 'this book weighs 5 cubes')
Mapped task(s) offer this clause only within the supplied examples. Mass comparison and notation; practical use requires real observation. No equivalence between arbitrary blocks and grams, and no fabricated measured weights. No attainment or automatic/general performance is claimed.
partial: Begin to read a simple scale for mass
Mapped task(s) offer this clause only within the supplied examples. Mass comparison and notation; practical use requires real observation. No equivalence between arbitrary blocks and grams, and no fabricated measured weights. No attainment or automatic/general performance is claimed.
partial: If {{name}} uses balance scales to compare two objects, can they tell you which is heavier — and if given weights like 100g, can they balance an object on the scale?
Mass comparison and notation; practical use requires real observation. No equivalence between arbitrary blocks and grams, and no fabricated measured weights. This is a bounded task opportunity, not established attainment or automatic use across contexts.

Mass comparison and notation; practical use requires real observation. No equivalence between arbitrary blocks and grams, and no fabricated measured weights.

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Compare mass with a balance, record equal-unit mass and read a supplied simple gram scale.

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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

How Heavy?

Open practice(new tab)

Before you open · source notes

Comparing how heavy objects are supports measuring mass and weight. Not every density formula.

Free, no sign-in. A teacher solution is on the same page, so use the student view with your child.

Before you open

Ask the learner to compare two objects and say which is heavier and how they know.

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. “How Heavy?.” 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

Use a balance to compare masses of two objects
Measure mass using non-standard units (e.g. 'this book weighs 5 cubes')
Begin to read a simple scale for mass

“If your child uses balance scales to compare two objects, can they tell you which is heavier — and if given weights like 100g, can they balance an object on the scale?”

Curriculum record

Type: Procedural
Subject: Mathematics
Domain: Measurement
Age range: Ages 5–9

Standards

acara-v9:AC9M2M01acara-v9:AC9S2I03the-ontario-curriculum-mathematics-2020:ON-MATH-2020-G3-E2.4uk-nc-2013:Maths/Y1/M/6