Session plan 4 of 8

Heavier or lighter?

Compare real Pokédex weights with place value, order them on a line and work out the difference.

30 minutes. Ages 7 to 10 (Years 3 to 5, Grades 2 to 4). Uses Stat Duel.

Learning objective

Pupils compare three-digit and decimal numbers by looking at the highest place value first, put weights in order, and find the difference between two of them.

Curriculum links

England, KS1 and KS2

• KS2 Maths: compare and order numbers up to 1,000 using place value
• KS2 Maths: measure and compare mass in kilograms
• KS2 Maths: add and subtract, including with one decimal place

United States, broad grade bands

• Grades 2 and 3 math: compare three-digit numbers using place value
• Grades 3 and 4 measurement: solve problems about mass (metric units)

What you need

• A projector
• The Stat Duel game
• Number cards or a blank number line on the board
• Optional: the stat maths printable

The plan, minute by minute

1. Warm-up, 5 minutes: Kilogram sense. A bag of sugar weighs about 1 kg, so Pikachu, at 6 kg, is about six bags. Ask pupils to guess how many bags Snorlax would be: 5, 50 or 500? Pupils stand at the number they pick, then check the real weight.
2. Main, 8 minutes: Stat Duel, weight rounds. Open Stat Duel with the Stat set to Weight (the link in the resources below does it for you). For every pair, pupils must say which digit decided it (hundreds, tens or ones) before you press Reveal.
3. Main, 7 minutes: Order the weights. Write 0.8 kg, 5.5 kg, 6 kg, 210 kg, 398 kg and 460 kg on cards. In teams, pupils put them in order on the board from lightest to heaviest and say how they knew.
4. Main, 5 minutes: How much heavier?. Snorlax is 460 kg and Wailord is 398 kg. How much heavier is Snorlax? (62 kg.) Pupils choose their own method and compare. Then try Pikachu and Jigglypuff: the difference is 0.5 kg.
5. Plenary, 5 minutes: Can they match?. Onix and Dragonite both weigh 210 kg. Ask what pupils would say if a duel came up with equal numbers, and what “equal” looks like with the symbols < , > and =.

Projector game

Stat Duel. Use it for the main round, with the Stat setting on Weight. Ask pupils to name the deciding digit before the reveal.

More to use

• Stat Duel on weight. Opens the projector game with the Stat set to Weight.
• Stat maths sheet. Twenty word problems with real stats, plus an answer key.
• Lesson: Reading a stat card. What the numbers on a Pokémon page mean.

Differentiation

Easier

Compare only whole numbers (460 kg, 210 kg, 6 kg) and use a place value grid with hundreds, tens and ones columns.

Harder

Include the decimals (0.8 kg and 5.5 kg). Ask how many Pikachu would balance one Onix if the weights were exactly as listed (35).

Talk about it

These weights belong to made-up creatures. Which of the numbers would you most like to check against a real animal, and how would you find out?

Numbers used in this plan

From the pokee.si Pokédex.

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