a well-balanced bear

Take a bear.  Or should I say Bear.

Stuff him unceremoniously into the bucket on one side of a set of balance scales.  And see if you can find some things that will balance him.

What shall we use? 

Let’s use our counting fish to start with.  How many counting fish do you think it will take to balance Bear?

We counted.  It took 18!  Ayesha guessed right!  So she got to choose what we should try next.  Dominoes.

Shall we see how many dominoes it will take to make Bear balance?

We counted.  It took 28!

What about pens?  Tim’s choice.  Will it take two pens to balance Bear?

No!  Bear is heavier than 2 pens isn’t he!

Will it take 24 pens to balance Bear?

No!  24 pens are heavier than Bear!  (Or we could say Bear is lighter than 24 pens.)

It actually took 16 pens to balance Bear; Bear weighs the same as 16 pens.

What about your bear? What can you use to make him (or her) balance?

And - is he heavier or lighter than Bear? How could you tell?

(Poor Bear – he felt quite giddy after all that balancing; perhaps he is not such a well-balanced Bear after all.)