Lesson Summary Students experiment with how to make a pencil balance on its tip by adding counter weights.  Teacher Background Students will be applying what they have learned about balance and stable balances to make a pencil balance on its sharpened tip.  Students will need to recall the last lesson with the triangle and arch and apply what they learned about making sure the counterweights are below the balance point, creating a stable balance. Set-up/Management Tips This lesson will take approximately 50 minutes. The kit comes with the cardstock pencils.  Check these before the lesson; don’t use any with bent parts.  You will be using craft sticks taped to student desks as the balance point in this lesson. For this lesson sharpen a new pencil for each student to balance. Students use wire to attach the counterweights to the pencil.  Before passing out the wire be sure to go over the wire safety rules listed in the manual.  Note- the wires will break from time to time.  Just discard broken wires. Before class have chart paper ready for recording content chart items. Literacy Support Books Available Through VAST Mediagraphies: Books Available Through VAST Mediagraphies: (see Literacy Links) Science Stories Read the Science Story Make it Balance at the end of this lesson. Scientific Vocabulary The following words are key vocabulary words that will be introduced in this lesson and reinforced throughout the unit: Wire