How to make a Spring Scale:

1: Attach a 4” spring (from Lowes) to a soda bottle lid. (I drilled two holes in the lid and used string to tie the spring to the lid.)

2: Attach string to the bottom of the spring, and let it hang down.

3: Drill a hole in the bottom of the soda bottle. Thread the string through the bottle. Tie a clip to the bottom of the string.

4: Attach the clip to the candy bucket. How far down does it pull the spring? How much does the bucket weigh? (We used a kitchen scale to weigh a bucket of rocks and mulch. Then we “weighed” that bucket with the spring scale, and labeled how far the bucket pulled down the spring.)