1750 To learn different liquid measurments, a student growing up when Thomas Jefferson was a child might have had to memorize this: |
Two mouthfuls are a jigger; two jiggers are a jack; two jacks are a jill; two jills are a cup; two cups are a pint; two pints are a quart; two quarts are a pottle; two pottles are gallon; two gallons are a pail; two pails are a peck; two pecks are a bushel; two bushels are a strike; two strikes are a coomb; two coombs are a cask; two casks are a barrel; two barrels are a hogshead; two hoghead are a pipe; two pipes are a tun-and there my story is done! |
2000 A student today learning U. S. Customary measurements has to memorize this: |
3 teaspooons are a tablespoon, 16 tablespoons are a cup, 2 cups are a pint, 2 pints are a quart, and 4 quarts are a gallon (and that a "teacup is smaller than a table") |
If we change to metric, every student will memorize this: |
1000 milliliters are a liter* *Thanks to the soft drink manufacturers (and FDA regulations), most kids know what a liter is. |
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Meter means measure!
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Did you ever wonder what the word "meter" means? Meter means measure. Metric is a wonderful system of measurement. Metric is easier to use than U.S. Customary. Metric measurements are based on ten. In the U.S. Customary System, there are all kinds of different bases. For instance, there are 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, and 1,760 yards in a mile. The only thing that metric and U.S. Customary have in common is that they are both on the same page in most math books. Math books, however, only glance over metric and leave it a forgotten measurement. The way some teachers explain metric, you might think that metric is derived from U. S. Customary. Errrk! U. S. Customary is derived from metric. Metric may seem a little strange at first, because people do not use it all the time. The only way we will make progress is to teach the children of our country. If you learn metric, it will not hinder you, only help you. |
We could have spent a lot of time making tables of metric prefixes and units, but Team #3804 made a great site already. There web page was a finalist in the ThinkQuest, Jr. 1998 Competition.
Check it out at the site below:
MetricsMatter
To learn about learn about metric measurements, we took M & M's and measured with them (and ate them). We had fun, while we learned. We also came up with a great name for our project:
" M & M Mess up."
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"M" & "M" always equals 2000.
We are living in the year 2000, a new millineum for all of us.
The U.S. needs to go forward with metric,
and leave U.S. Customary in our past.
"Why not to K!" |
We started the year 2000 worrying about Y2K. Many people don't even know that in metric the "K" stands for thousand. Instead of worrying about Y2K, people should be worrying, "Why not to K!" We must take the challenge to learn metric, or for another century, it will be the United States' forgotten measurement.
Kids can learn about metric and have fun, too!
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Celebrating Metric Measurement Month! |
National Metric Week is celebrated during the week of October 10th, 10/10, because metric is based on tens. National Metric Week was invented to catch people's attention. Kids like to have fun. Now kids have an excuse to celebrate and learn at the same time. What kid wouldn't want 10 M&M's, 10 cakes, 10 cookies, or 10 ice cream cones! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... metric! |
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Making M&M Measurements! |
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| Kids can make metric measurements fun. Our project required us to understand the metric system. To help us to understand the metric system, we used M&M's. First we found out a inch was about 2 M&M's. There are 71 M&M's in a yard. We also found out a meter equaled 77 M&M's. We even weighed the M&M's, we found out there were 545 M&M's in a pound. Then we multiplied the M&M's by 2.2 so we could find out how many M&M's were in a kilogram. The M&M's made measuring fun, but the best part was we got to eat half of our project in the end! |
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Millicoma's Metric Mondays! |
The sixth grade science teachers at Millicoma Middle School, Mrs. Muffett and Mrs. Zenchenko, have come up with a solution to the problem of not knowing Metric. Every Monday the science teachers do what they call "Metric Mondays. "They begin with examples, then they practice metric and use it in their science labs. They even have a metric Olympics using metric measurements. Mrs. Muffett said, "They knew that the Metric System exists, but didn't really know how to use it. In fact most of our kids were "afraid" of it, especially some who saw it as new and difficult." |
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| For a timeline with more information on metric's history, |
| Click on the link below: |
| Metric History Timeline |
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