Customary Units of Weight and Mass

19.3 Compare Customary Units of Weight

I can represent and compare different units of weight.

Open Ended

Without using a scale, tell me how much a watermelon weighs. Does it weigh as much as a house? Is it the size of two basketballs? How much do you think a watermelon would weigh in comparison to something else?

New Vocabulary

• A pound (aka lbs) is a customary unit for measuring weight. A loaf of bread weighs about 1 pound.

• An ounce (aka oz) is a customary unit for measuring weight. A slice of bread weighs about 1 ounce.

• A ton is a customary unit for measuring weight. A rhino.

Our next few problems will deal with this scenario

This African elephant weighs 6 tons. There are 2,000 pounds in 1 ton. How much does the elephant weigh in pounds?

Help me finish this table.

• 1 ton = 2,000 lbs

• 2 tons = 4,000 lbs

• 3 tons = 6,000 lbs

• 4 tons = 8,000 lbs

• 5 tons = 10,000 lbs

• 6 tons = 12,000 lbs

So let's summarize what we learned here.

The numbers of tons increase by 1 as you move down the table. The difference between any two consecutive values in the numbers of pounds is 2,000.

The elephant weighs 12,000 lbs!

The elephant weighs 6 tons. Each ton is 2,000 pounds, so 6 tons is equal to 12,000 pounds.