Grade 2 Science
Optional Unit:Measuring Matter

Unit overview:

In this unit students learn how to measure length, volume, and mass. A variety of different activities should be conducted to allow students to develop skill in measuring. The SI units are introduced as the preferred standard units of measurement.

Related units:

Measuring is essential in all branches of science. It provides quantitative information about the world around us. Hence, measurement has an important role to play in experiments. Many of the suggested activities presented along with the Core Units either involve measurement, or can be extended to include related activities which involve measurement. Integrate these activities with Mathematics.

Suggested themes:

distance, length, mass, measurement, temperature, volume

Factors of scientific literacy which should be emphasized:

Common Essential Learnings foundational objectives which should be emphasized:

To develop an understanding of how knowledge is created, evaluated, refined and changed within science. (CCT)
To strengthen students' understanding of measurement by applying their ability to count and to estimate. (NUM)
To develop a contemporary view of technology. (TL)

Science foundational and learning objectives:

Measure length.
1. Compare objects to determine their relative size.
2. Sort objects according to size.
3. Measure the length of an object using an appropriate measuring device.
4. Estimate the length of objects and compare the estimates to the measured values.
5. Express the length of an object in arbitrary units.
Measure volume.
1. Recognize that mass is conserved when a liquid is poured from one container to another container having a different shape.
2. Determine which of several containers is capable of holding the greatest amount of water.
3. Measure the amount of sand or water that can be used to fill different types of containers.
4. Express the volume of an object in arbitrary units.
Measure mass.
1. Compare the mass of several different objects.
2. Use a balance to measure the mass of different objects.
3. Express the mass of an object in arbitrary units.
Apply standard units when measuring.
1. Explain what a standard unit is.
2. Suggest why people use standard units.
3. Recognize that most measuring instruments use standard units.
4. Identify standard SI units that are used for measuring length, volume, and mass.

Information regarding SI units: The preferred units to use throughout the science program are SI units. Converting measurements from one system to another, or measuring using instruments calibrated in British units is not recommended.

Suggested Activities:

Ask children to brainstorm and/or collect items used for measurement at home and at school. [Be prepared for some inch, foot, and yard measurements of length, as well as both metric and British Imperial (ounces, pounds) measures of volume and mass. If cookbooks are used as references many still use cups rather than the metric equivalent.] Standard units may be discussed at this time. Pose the question: Why do we use standard units? Ask students to think about it, discuss it with parents and/or peers, and be prepared to share information at another time. Make a master list of the ideas and/or items generated. As a class, indicate beside each measurement whether it is used as a measure of length, volume, or mass. You may wish to indicate that clocks, calendars, thermometers, and even money are units of measurement but are not included in this unit. The introduction of these in mathematics would round out the "Measurement" idea.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, F3
Objectives: 4.1, 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning, Technological Literacy. Students must identify objects measured, share information, take turns collecting information and/or items, and work with some independence beyond the classroom to locate measurement devices.
Expand the discussion begun in activity one, to indicate reasons why we might need standard units of measurements; when non-standard units might be appropriate to use; and how use of standard units might be beneficial throughout the world. Have students bring real measurement devices and/or find pictures of items to create a centre, display, or bulletin board of measurement devices. Let children handle measurement devices and explain how they are used and what they would measure.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, E3, F3
Objectives: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques: 1, 4

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning, Technological Literacy. Students must identify measurement devices, share information, take turns examining information and/or items are examined, work with some independence beyond the classroom to locate measurement devices, and cooperate in class as a bulletin board or display is created.
Using items collected in activity one and two, have students discuss the appropriate use of each item.
1. When would you use a 30 cm ruler? a metre stick? a surveyor's tape or chain? a flexible tape?
2. When would you use a litre carton? a half-litre? a four litre container? a measuring spoon? a measuring cup?
3. When would you use balances? scales? Small group and/or whole class discussion might be used to examine items and fill in detail. Individual projects, interviews with parents, home economists, engineers, or other professionals, or having guests in to share materials and knowledge might highlight the uses of measurement devices in various jobs and their importance in our society. Take a tour of the science room to add ideas for measuring devices. Collect items to be used at centres.
Factors:
A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, E3, F3, G2
Objectives: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques: 3, 5

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Technological Literacy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning. Students must identify measurement device, share data, listen to speakers, take turns as information and/or items are collected, and work with some independence beyond the classroom to locate measurement devices or information about them.
As an individual project or a class trip, visit the local supermarket. Record how various food products are measured for sale. Share and build a master chart. Chart the results.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, F3, G2
Objectives: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques: 1, 6

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Technological Literacy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning. Students must identify measurements used in retail stores, share data, take turns sharing information, and work with some independence beyond the classroom to check on measurement devices and standard units used.
Plan a cooking project with the class. Emphasize safety if the stove or oven is being used. Have students assemble the correct measuring utensils and ingredients, follow the recipe, and enjoy the results. Have students record the sequence of events as they cooked. What units of measurement were used? What would happen if we did not use standard measurements? If possible, you might try a recipe with one group using measuring devices and another just estimating as they follow the directions. How different will the results be?

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C4, C5, E3, G2
Objectives: 2.1, 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning, Technological Literacy. Students must identify measurement devices and ingredients, share data, cooperate, take turns helping cook, and discuss problems.
As a non-standard measurement of length, have students estimate who is shorter and taller, compare heights, and arrange themselves first in small groups and then as a whole class from small to tall. After recording the class names from small to tall, have students make:
1. life size replicas of themselves on large sheets of paper to be hung in the hall as "Our Class-Small to Tall". Students will need to work in pairs to trace each other. These life-sized replicas of class members can be referred to often as you line up for gym, assembly, etc.; or
2. paper plate faces of each class member complete with wool for hair, glasses if worn, etc. attached to a strip of paper of the appropriate length to reflect the class heights. Use individual class member representations as objects to be measured using non-standard items (see activity seven).
This activity integrates social studies and mathematics.
Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, C5, E3, G2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5
Assessment Techniques: 1, 4

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning. Students must work together to arrange themselves into an order based on height, and cooperate as they create their class from Small to Tall. Measuring using non-standard units adds a Numeracy component.
Use familiar items from around the classroom as non-standard units of measurement (erasers, paper clips, popsicle sticks, chalkboard erasers, even hand-spans, etc.). Using these items and devices, estimate first and then record the length of tables, desks, chalkboard, books, shelves, the room, height of the door, etc. Have students experiment and share strategies for measuring with individual devices. Have students compare measurements of items. Were they the same? different? Why? Discuss. Introduce string as a measuring device to compare lengths, sizes of items, personal body measurements (waist, length of arm, around head, etc.), distances around objects, etc. Introduce the 30 cm ruler, tape measure, and metre stick. Use these to measure directly or to compare lengths of string to standard measurements. Have students record their findings.

Factors: B5, C2, C3, C4, C5, E3, G2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3, 6

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning, Technological Literacy. Students must identify measurement objects and devices, measure objects, share data, take turns as information and/or strategies are shared, and work with some independence in the classroom to complete measurements.
Have students predict and then measure the length of the table, chalkboard, room, hallway, etc. using their foot. Results should be recorded. Will everyone's results be the same? Students might also trace and cut out their foot or shoe to use as a unit of measurement. Have students share results of their measurements. Also have students share strategies used to measure (both shoes or traced cutouts, ways of holding position while the measurement device (shoe) is moved, etc.).

Factors: B5, C2, C3, C4, C5, F3, G2
Objectives: 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3, 6

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning. Students must use non-standard measurement devices (foot), measure object, take turns as information and/or strategies are shared, and work with some independence in the classroom to complete measurements.
Set up a centre for measurement of volume. In this centre put containers of various sizes so that students might experiment with measurement using water, small seeds, aquarium gravel, rice or other grains, or small pasta. [More than one centre may be used with different containers and items to be compared in each centre.] Large, low-edged containers to hold your seeds and grains (cake pans, tubs, basins, large bowls) make filling and measuring easier for young students and keeps spillage to a minimum.

Have students find containers that hold the same amount, differing amounts, the most, the least. Students may also use containers of different shapes which hold a standard amount (litre, half-litre, etc.) to increase awareness of standard measurement. If cylinders from the science room are used or other small-mouthed containers, provide funnels to make filling easier. Have students record their findings. If measuring cups are used, have students make observations as to how many of a smaller container (half-cup, third-cup, 100 ml, 250 ml, etc.) it takes to fill the larger container (cup, litre, etc.). Give your centres interesting names: "Measurement Madness", "Levelling Litres" "Viewing Volume". It might also be interesting to bring in mathematics manipulatives (cubic cm, 1000 cubic cm block) and discuss the relationship to millilitres and litres.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, C5, E3, F3, G2
Objectives: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques:1, 3, 8

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning, Technological Literacy. Students must use measurement objects and devices, share data, take turns as information and/or strategies are shared, and work together in the classroom centres to complete tasks.
Set up a centre with scales and balances and a variety of objects and materials to be used. Have students estimate which items might be heaviest, lightest, of equal mass, etc. Have students compare the mass of equal-sized dishes of rice, wheat, gravel, pasta, etc. Which are heavy? light? Have students explain why equal-sized containers of items such as rice, marbles, water, gravel, etc. might have different masses. Give your centres interesting names: "Growing Grams" "Balancing Beams" "Kilogram Killers". Students might wish to have input into the names of the centres. Introduce gram and kilogram weights to students. Let students experiment with standard weight of some objects. As part of this centre, a small amount of popcorn might be weighed (in a paper bag that would also hold the popped corn), then popped, and reweighed. Is there a difference in mass? Why? Share. Magnifiers increase interest as students observe the materials they are working with. Have some available for student use.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, C5, E1, E3, G2
Objectives: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3, 8

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning, Technological Literacy. Students must work with objects and devices to measure object, share data, take turns as information and/or strategies are shared, and work with some independence to complete measurements.
At a centre for student use, have a variety of objects of different masses. Have the student decide on an item to be the "standard" unit. Experiment using a balance to find which items are heavier and lighter than the "standard". Chart or record results indicating what item was the "standard". Discuss why each person's sorting of heavier and lighter objects might be different.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, C5, E3, G2
Objectives: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3, 8

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning. Students must measure objects by mass, sort items, share data, take turns as information and/or strategies are shared, and work with some independence in the classroom to complete measurements.
Have students create their own balances using a piece of wood, a string to suspend the stick at mid-point or a triangular prism to use as a fulcrum, and recycled containers to be fastened at each end to hold items. Experiment with a variety of items to find which are heavy, light, of equal mass, etc.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C4, C5, E3, F3, G2
Objectives: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3
Assessment Techniques: 4, 8

Common Essential Learnings: Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning. Students must build and then use their balance as a measurement tool.
If cooking is involved in your theme, have students weigh all the raw ingredients before baking (e.g.; ingredients for cookies) and again after baking. Is there a difference? What possible reasons could there be for the difference? Discuss. Record. You may need to remind students to take into account the containers holding ingredients.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, C5, E3, G2
Objectives: 3.2, 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Technological Literacy. Students must measure ingredients by mass, share in making and baking the food, and discuss the findings.
To develop awareness of standard terms for measurement of length, volume and mass, have students create their own 3 X 3 grid into which they can put some of the following terms: free, length, centimetre, metre, mass, gram, kilogram, volume, litre, millilitre. Play "Bingo" by either showing items to represent each and/or naming the squares to be marked, e.g.; hold up a gram unit and/or say the word gram; hold up a milk carton and/or say litre; to measure how heavy, I'd be using ____ and/or say mass. This will help students remember to associate grams and kilograms with mass, millilitres and litres with volume, and centimetre, and metres with length.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, G2
Objectives: 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques: 1

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills. Students must create their own card using mass, volume, and length terms and relate these to standard measurement units.
Awareness that even air has mass, can easily be demonstrated by students using a balance and both inflated and non-inflated balloons. Students can fasten balloons to the ends of balances with elastics or string. Two or three balloons at each end is sufficient for the mass of air in the inflated balloons to be evident. Draw and record what the resulting balance looked like.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, C3, C4, C5, E3, G2
Objectives: 3.2, 3.3
Assessment Techniques: 1, 4, 8

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Independent Learning. Students must create their own "experiment" using mass of air in balloons.
As an extension or an enrichment activity for some students, have them investigate how other civilizations may have measured things. This could be done as a research project or an interview, and then could be presented in any form- -orally, written paper, poster, audiovisually, etc.

Factors: A3, B5, C2, E4, F3, G2
Objectives: 4.2, 4.3, 4.4
Assessment Techniques: 4, 9

Common Essential Learnings: Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy, Independent Learning. Students must research and create their own report on some aspect of measurement from past times.

Grade 2 Science Optional Unit:Measuring Matter