Grams and Kilograms

Mass is how heavy something is. It is measured with a scale.

Gram is a unit of mass. A paperclip is about one gram.

For heavy things there is a bigger unit.

Kilogram is 1,000 grams. A bag of sugar is about one kilogram.

Reading between the marks

The needle often lands between two marks. Count on from the mark below it.

Grams and kilograms

Mass is how much matter something contains. Grams measure light things — a paperclip is about 1 gram, an apple about 100 grams. Kilograms measure heavier ones — a bag of sugar is 1 kilogram. One kilogram is 1,000 grams, the same thousand-based bundling you know from place value.

Reading a scale

A scale is a number line bent into a circle, or laid out straight. Work out what each small mark is worth before reading anything: if there are five marks between 100 and 200, each is 20. Reading the scale first is the same habit as reading a bar graph's scale first.

Benchmarks for mass

Hold a bag of sugar and you know what a kilogram feels like. A slice of bread is about 30 grams; a cat is about 4 kilograms. Carrying a few benchmarks lets you judge whether an answer of 500 kilograms for a school bag is plausible. It is not.