Outside the US, weight is measured in grams and kilograms. A paperclip is about 1 gram. A bag of sugar is 1 kilogram.
Kilogram is 1,000 grams. It is written kg.
Step 1: Let's Learn
Read it, or press Listen and follow the words.
A thousand grams
1,000 grams make 1 kilogram. Half a kilogram is 500 grams.
Reading a scale
The pointer or the number tells the weight. If it sits between two marks, say about.
The American word
In the US, people weigh things in pounds. A kilogram is a bit more than two pounds. A bag of sugar there says 2.2 pounds.
Step 2: Try It Yourself
Read the balance. Then change what is on it.
750 g
The level sits between marks. Count on from the mark below it.
Step 3: In Real Life
The vegetable scales in a supermarket
You put apples on the scale. It says 0.750 kg. That is 750 grams, three quarters of a kilogram. The price is by the kilogram, so the scale prints the cost.
Step 4: Watch an Example
One step at a time.
Watch Sam Weigh the Flour
Sam puts a bag of flour on the scale.
- Step 1
The pointer stops at 500.
Step 5: Your Turn
Practice makes it stick.
The Supermarket
Problem 1 of 2
How many grams make a kilogram?
g
Two Bags
Problem 2 of 2
One bag is 1 kg. Another is 600 g. Which is heavier?
Grams and Kilograms
1 of 3
Half a kilogram. How many grams?
2 of 3
2 kg of potatoes. How many grams?
3 of 3
Apples 750 g and pears 250 g. Grams in all?
Step 6: Quick Check
Show what you know.
Question 1 of 2
A bag of sugar is about…
Question 2 of 2
What do people in the US weigh things in?
What You Learned
- Light things are in grams, heavy things in kilograms.
- 1,000 g make 1 kg.
- Pounds are the American unit; a kilogram is a bit more than two.
For the grown-up
Kitchen scales are the manipulative. Weigh a bag of sugar, then half of it, then a spoon of it, and say the grams each time.
Grade 3 Math teaches grams and kilograms in full. This lesson is the everyday version, one year earlier, for a child who sees kilograms on every packet.