In year 1A we have been learning about mass.
Children are introduced to weight and mass for the first time. They may already have some understanding of heavy and light from their own experience of carrying objects. Children should begin by holding objects and describing them using vocabulary such as heavy, light, heavier than, lighter than before using the scales to check. The children may believe that larger objects are always heavier and this misconception should be explored.
Mathematical talk: Hold two objects, which is heavier/lighter? How do you know? How can we prove this? Are larger objects always heavier than smaller objects? If the balance scale is down, what does that tell us? If the balance scale is up, what does that tell us? If the balance is level, what does that tell us? Which of these objects is heavier? How do you know? How will this be shown on the weighing scale?
Note: Why ‘mass’ not ‘weight’? Mass is what stuff is made of. Weight is the gravitational force that the planet exerts an a given amount of mass at a given distance from the center of gravity of the planet. In a free falling reference system there is mass but no weight.
