So I hadn't planned on doing a unit on weight- at least it wasn't in MY plans for school today. While I was busy getting ready for the day, I saw Shayleigh dragging something into the guest room. Mumbling to herself. And then returning that object to her room. Then dragging something else into the guest room, mumbling, and returning the object. As the third object appeared to drag across the hallway, I peered into the guest room to see Shayleigh placing Winnie the Pooh on the scale (the scale is in the guest room because apparently the scales are inaccurate on carpet and the guest room isn't carpeted) and said to herself- or maybe it was to Pooh, "Oh you're not as heavy as I thought you were!" When she saw me she stopped. So I asked her if she would like to do an experiment using the scale. She thought it was a great idea. Off we went to create an Excel spread sheet.
We decided to find 10 objects in her room. She would guess how much they weighed, weigh them, and then write the difference between the guessed and the actual weight.
First she found 10 objects:
 |
| Very Random Selection. |
And we needed a scale (or two):
 |
| Postage scale for objects under 5 lbs. Body scale for objects over 5 lbs. |
She wrote each item and how much she thought they would weigh. Then based on her guess, she chose the correct scale.
 |
| I was surprised by some of the weights she guessed. |
Then she started weighing the objects and writing the actual weights.
 |
| Accessories Dresser |
 |
| Box of Magnetic Dolls |
 |
| Pink Guitar |
 |
| Vase |
 |
| Bean Bag |
 |
| Pottery Barn Chair |
 |
| Basket of Magic Tree House Books |
 |
| A Puzzle Book |
 |
| Soft body pillow |
 |
| Bird cage centerpiece from Aunt Tami's wedding |
 |
| Some of these are pretty close! |
 |
| Working on the difference. |
 |
| Here are the results! |
Some of the weights were surprising to me too. The bean bag chair for example seems so heavy lifting up and down the stairs. For the most part though, she was pretty close to some actual weights.
Today's lesson was unexpected and fun. She wants to do more experiments like this in the future.
Another unexpected event happened today- I returned to blogging! It's been a while. I get so busy living everyday. So I will try better to blog about her experiences.
