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scale (n.)   A progressive classification, as of size, amount, importance, or rank

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language – Fourth Edition

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Concepts of scale and sizes of things are one of the overarching themes in science. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Project 2061 Benchmarks has identified several big themes that cross science disciplines and cross age groups. Scaling concepts should not be considered topics to be added to a curriculum, but rather serve as a way of thinking that is germane to much of the science curriculum that already is being taught.

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Student Activity Links

• Benchmark Project 2061 - Go to Chapter 11: Common Themes, then click scale
• ASU Size & Scale - A number of interesting examples to assist in mastering important size and scale concepts using relevant natural and man-made material systems.
• How Big Are Things? - Good site to explore relative sizes of objects. Organized into "rooms", each containing objects within 3 orders of magnitude of each other, from which you can navigate to a room with larger or smaller objects.
• Powers of Ten - Contains the classic video "Powers of 10" by Eames and Eames, along with lots of other resources for investigating scientific notation and the scale of things.
• How Big is a ... - Interactive website that starts with a pin head and scales down to a virus.