How to Read a Scale?

"Reading scale" is a useful yet simple tool for students to practice their skills in reading a scale and converting between standard units - kilograms (kg) and grams (g).

While new scales and measurements can be generated by clicking the buttons, the digital scale also provides variations including different types of intervals. Teachers can utilise such features to consolidate students' skills in reading a scale and converting between units interchangeably, by questioning them the measurement shown on the scale. Furthermore, teachers can question students to think of what object could be on the scale according to the mass measured. 

The tool can be accessed via TeacherLED.com

Link: https://www.teacherled.com/iresources/scales/mass/

With the renewable scale and measurement, students are allowed to understand the variations of scales such as different intervals and measuring in different units. While the units and measurements can be changed quickly and easily with one button, the scale looks the same, this also helps students in visualising the concept of unit conversion, and practice reading the scale at a quicker pace in higher levels.

As learning to read a scale with peers can be inspiring and enjoyable, students can learn from each other regardless of whether the answer is correct or not. From observing the process of others reading a scale to reading a scale by themselves, students can be inspiring to others while being inspired, as they can learn from mistakes and develop new skills (e.g. tricks of reading scales) collectively - that is collective intelligence. 

For more advanced learning, students can be challenged to investigate what objects have a similar mass as the measurement shown on the scale each time. Likewise, they can be asked to think of methods to help in reading a scale, as well as explore the features and limitations of scales. 

While developing the skill in reading scales, this activity enables students to explore the ideas of mass. As soon as they are used to reading the scale, they can further decode relevant concepts such as determining the appropriate unit for an object. In this sense, this activity can be a starting point and students can be guided by questions to further understand the topic - mass measurements. 

Examples of guiding questions:

• What can be measured by a scale? 

• Is anything not measurable by a scale?

• What if the object is too heavy to measure by a scale? 

• Does the unit matter when measuring?