Part of Lesson Plan: Chewing Gum Lab

Activity Overview / Details

If students are not already familiar with using a scale in the classroom - Demonstrate as follows:

1)  Tare out the scale to a "zero" - demonstrate placing a variety of objects on the scale to weigh them.

2)  The word "tare" is perhaps traced to the Italian word for "waste" (tara).  It is commonly used to refer to setting a scale to "zero".  When a scale has been tared, than you are weighing only the contents of the product, and not the container.

3)  Some scales have a button that you push which will tare the scale. Demonstrate this by setting a small container on the scale and pushing "tare".

4) Other scales must be manually scaled. Demonstrate this by setting a small container on the scale and manually setting the weight to "zero".

5) As you are demonstrating this - discuss the importance of this to baking, accuracy, trading goods, shipping goods (etc...)

6)  Demonstrate to students how to tare the gum wrapper and weigh a stick of gum.