How Big is It?

Activity
Introduction
Size and scale are two interrelated terms. Size represents the numerical value of how big an object is such as
the diameter of a baseball is 10 centimeters. Scale, on the other hand, is the ratio between the sizes of two
objects. An example of this would be like saying an ant is 1000 times smaller than the average person. In order
to gain a better understanding of how big objects are, it can be more helpful to compare the sizes of objects to
other known objects.
Our world is made up of multiple scales or worlds: macroscale, microscale, nanoscale and atomic scale. The
macroscale is what can be seen with the naked eye. The microscale is too small to see without a light
microscope (usually measured in micrometers or microns). The nanoscale is typically smaller than a cell but
bigger than an atom (approximately 1-100 nm) and the atomic scale is approximately the size of an atom. The
limits of these scales can be fluid.
In this activity you will compare the sizes of different objects and place them on a scale from smallest to largest.
Procedure
Your group will be given cards with pictures of different objects on them. Your job is to correctly place these
objects from smallest to largest. Place the items according to the logarithmic scale provided.
Think about if you are placing objects in the macroscale, microscale, nanoscale or atomic scale.
Questions to Consider
1. Which objects did you have the hardest time placing? Why?
2. Did the correct placement of any objects surprise you? Why?
3. What difficulties do you think your students will have with the concept of size and scale?
a. What misconceptions do you think your students will have with this concept?
4. How can you help your students understand size and scale, especially at the nanoscale?

Teacher Notes
Give the students a specific amount of time to correctly place the pictures (20 mins). This will keep groups on
task and will push them to make a decision.
Extension
After the 20 minutes, give students the microscope cards to add to the measurement line. This will help
students realize that different types of microscopes are used to see different sized particles. The graph below
can be used by teachers know the range that each microscopes uses.
For the groups that need extra practice. I will reduce the number of pictures to 3 for atomic scale, nano
scale, microscale and centimeter. Using 2 from each scale from the original set, I will add the pictures below to

give them something new to figure out. I would only give them 10 minutes. Then check this group for
accuracy.

length of a
Pill Bug

diameter of
carbon dioxide

diameter of carbon dioxide 2.29 A

2.29 x 10
-10

Length of gold nanoparticles

2.5 x 10

Length of a pill bug

2.5 x 10
-2

Height of basketball hoop

Light microscope
1millimeter 100
nanometer

3.048

-9

Height of
basketball hoop

Length of Gold
nanoparticle

meter
s
meter
s
meter
s
meter
s

Electron microscope
10 micrometer - 0 .
1nanometer

Scanning Probe
Microscope
100 nanometer - 0.9
nanometer

References

Eye
Visible light
spectrum

http://nanosense.sri.com/activities/sizematters/sizeandscale/SM_Lesson2Student.pdf (activity)
http://teachers.standford.edu/activities
microscopes- http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Exploring-with-Microscopes/SciMedia/Images/Resolving-power-of-microscopes