200

g
1kg

12 How Heavy? How Light?

Jaiju and Mannu were shifting house. They loaded all their things
on a horse-cart. There were many things like — a water tank, five
sacks of wheat, three tables, an almirah, four chairs, two
mattresses, three sacks of rice, a bamboo ladder, pots and pans.
When they were ready to move, the horse refused to start. They
wondered why. Their father said that this horse was not well and
would not pull a load heavier than 700 kg. Oh! But how heavy is
this load? — they asked.
200
g

1kg
1kg

200
g

133
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Father gave them some idea of the Thing loaded Weight

weight of each thing. A sack of wheat 100 kg
A sack of rice 35 kg
❊ Find out the total weight they had
Water tank 50 kg
loaded on the cart.
Almirah 70 kg
Now they decided to remove a few A table 10 kg
things from the cart. A chair 5 kg
❊ Which things should be removed so A mattress 20 kg
that the weight of the load is not Bamboo ladder 10 kg
more than 700 kgs? Pots and pans 10 kg

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

The things which were loaded on the cart were big in

size and also very heavy. To measure the weight of such
heavy and big things, we need a big balance.
200
g

But Jaiju and Mannu wanted to make their own

1kg

balance. They collected a few things — a stick, two lids

and a thick thread. They made this balance.

❊ Now you also make your own balance. Write

down how you made it. Also draw a picture of
your balance in the box below.

134
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Activity
Mannu and Jaiju put a pencil and a geometry
box in the two pans of the balance. Which pan
will go down? Why? Draw a picture to show it.

What is heavier?
❊ Make pairs of different things and use
the balance to decide which is heavier.
First guess which thing will take the
pan down and then check with your
balance.

What is the heaviest?

1kg
❊ Make groups of three things. For example — eraser, ball and
paper. Use the balance to arrange them in order of weight – the

200
g
lightest, the one with in-between weight, the heaviest.
Complete the table with at least five examples.

Lightest In-between weight Heaviest

Paper Eraser Ball

❊ Can you find your own weight using this balance?

The balance children make will not be very accurate but will be good enough to compare
weights which are different from each other.

135
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Making Weights
Do this activity in pairs. You need a balance, weights, a cake of
soap, plastic packets, sand and rubber bands. You can also take
help of an older person.
Get a new cake of soap. The packet will have the weight written
on it. You can use this soap to make your own different weights.
The soap weighs ____________ grams (g).
Take a small plastic packet.
Put it in one pan of the balance. Put the
soap in the other pan.
Slowly add sand to the packet till the pans
are balanced.
200
g

Close the packet with a rubber band or

string. Now stick a strip of paper and write '____ g'
1kg

on it.
If you put the soap and the weight you just made
together in a pan, how many grams will both these
weigh? ________

Now make different weights — 150 g, 200 g

and 250 g. You can use soaps of different
weights for this.
Also make some bigger weights of 500 g,
1000 g, and 750 g.
❊ Use your weights to weigh different things and
write in your notebook.

136
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Practice Time
❊ Which pan of the balance will go down? Show by drawing
an arrow.

25g 35g 75g 35g

40g 40g 75g 140g

1kg
55g

200
g
105g 150g 245g 254g
200g 250g 700g 600g

20g 36g 63g

196g 197g 75g 100g

❊ Is the weight on any of the pans equal to 1 kilogram? Mark it.

❊ How many grams are there in 1 kg?

137
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Grams and Kilograms

Name 5 things that we usually buy —
In grams In kilograms
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.

Which is Heavier?

Which is heavier —
one kilogram cotton or
200

one kilogram iron?

g
1kg

Sir, she threw a He threw a one kg pillow

heavy watermelon of cotton. So, I threw a
at me! one kg watermelon!
Yesterday you said that
the weight of 1 kg cotton
and 1 kg melon is equal.

138
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Dinesan Went Shopping

Dinesan went to a shop and bought some things.
His younger brother cut the end of the bill where the weights
were written.
❊ Guess and write the weight of each thing he bought — in g or kg.

Items Weight

Rice 5

Sugar 1

Mustard seeds 10

Wheat 3
Dal 500

1kg
Tea 250

Pepper 25

200
g
Car and Tractor
Ritu is weighing her toys. She If I put 2 cars,
will the tractor
wants to know if her tractor is
still be heavier?
heavier than her car. How would
you help her to find out quickly?
Guess which is the heaviest —
a real car, a bus or a tractor?
Which is the heaviest thing you
have seen?

139
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Oh, no! I cannot

bear this pain.
Elephant's Weight
Once a king had pain in his
stomach. None of the palace
doctors could cure his pain.

The king then said:

200
g

Anyone who cures

my pain will get gold
1kg

equal to the weight

of an elephant.

On hearing this, doctors from all over the country came. But only
Dr. Vaidika could cure him.

Oh great! My pain
has gone. Thank So, can I have my
you, Dr. Vaidika. reward now, sir?

140
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

OK, first find

But, the greedy king didn't the weight of an
elephant. Then I
want to give her the gold. So,
will give you that
he thought of a trick. much gold.

Vaidika was unhappy when she reached home. She told her
daughter the whole story.
Don't worry Ma. I have
an idea ..... tell the king
to arrange an elephant
How can I weigh
and a big boat.
an elephant?
Where will I get

1kg
such a big balance?

200
g
Next morning, Dr. Vaidika invited the king near a river. The king
came with an elephant and a big boat.

I think she is a fool.

How will she weigh an
elephant with a boat!

141
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Vaidika's daughter went into the

river. She marked on the boat
how much it sank in the river.

Then she asked them to bring the

elephant into the boat. The boat
sank deeper. So she marked the
new water level on the boat.
200
g
1kg

Now imagine what happened next and complete the story.

Discuss with your friends how Vaidika's daughter found the
weight of the elephant.

142
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

How Much the Chair Weighs

Anamika wants to weigh this chair using the
weighing machine.

Can you suggest a way for doing this?

Broken Stones
Abdu sells firewood. There was a
stone in his shop which weighed
13 kg. He used it to weigh firewood.

1kg
One day the stone fell down and
broke into three pieces which

200
g
weighed – 2 kg, 5 kg and 6 kg.

5 kg 2 kg
6 kg

But Abdu was very smart. He used those three pieces to weigh
firewood of all weights — from 1 kg to 9 kg.
Here is how Abdu weighed 1 kg of firewood —

The s
Ah! hi
h t of t .
weig kg
l e is 1
bun d

143
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

✤ Now you show how Abdu will use these stone pieces to
weigh —

6 kg
5 kg 2 kg
a) 4 kg of firewood

b) 3 kg of firewood
200
g
1kg

c) 7 kg of firewood

144
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Post Office
Have you ever been to a post office? _________
What different things do people go there for?
How much does a postcard cost? _________
How much does an inland letter cost? _________

Hkkjrh; Mkd
Postal Rates
INDIA POST

Postal Items Postal Rates

(in Rs)
Single post card 0.50
Printed post card 6.00
Inland Letter 2.50

1kg
Letter weighing –
i) 20 grams or less 5.00
ii) For every additional 2.00

200
g
20 grams
Parcel weighing –
i) 50 grams or less 5.00
ii) For every additional 3.00
50 grams

Look at the postal rates given in the chart.

1. How much will you have to pay for stamps on a letter weighing
50 grams? _____________
2. Akash wants to send a parcel of the Math Magic textbook to
his friend Rani in Chennai. The book weighs 200 g. See the
chart to find the cost of posting the book. ____________

145
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

3. Read the weight shown in the picture. Find out the cost of
sending a parcel of that weight.

200 250
150 30
0
0
10 35
0
50

in gm

Parcel weight = _______

Cost of stamps = _______

How Many Stamps?

Rahul needs stamps of Rupees 25 for his parcel. He
went to the post office. Only stamps of Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5
and Rs 10 were there at that time. Using those stamps
200
g

in how many different ways can he make Rs 25?

Can you show five different ways? What is the
1kg

heaviest parcel he can send using stamps of Rs 25?

Our Weight Together

A frog was struggling to escape from the mouth of a crow. How
can I escape? — the frog thought. Suddenly a trick came to his
mind. He asked the crow — Are you good at arithmetic? If yes,
then I will ask you a problem.
Your weight is 650 g and I am
only 145 g. How much do we
weigh together?
The crow was good at mathematics,
so he happily opened his beak to answer.
What happened after that? So what was the answer the crow
wanted to give? ____________

146
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

Am I Fit or Fat?
The chart shows the height and weight of children between
6 and 10 years old.

Name Age Height Weight

Temshula 6 3 feet, 7 inches 16 kg

Sreekunth 10 4 feet, 3 inches 23 kg
Rabiya 6 3 feet, 10 inches 17 kg

Vineet 8 3 feet, 11 inches 19.5 kg

Kavita 9 3 feet, 10 inches 20 kg

1kg
Now, you also fill the table by finding out the age, height and
weight of any five friends.

200
g
Can you make my
Name Age Height Weight health chart?

My health
chart too!

147
200
g
1kg

2020-21
 200
g
1kg

How Many Oranges?

All oranges have equal weight. The two papayas have the same
weight. The weights in the first and second balances are equal.
How many oranges balance the weight in the third?
200
g

1kg
1kg

200
g
How many oranges?

Find That Marble

There are 3 marbles of the same size but one marble is slightly
heavier or lighter than the other two. Can you find which is that
marble and if it is heavier or lighter? You can use a balance only
two times.

148
200
g
1kg

2020-21