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Science Teachers Chatboard

better metric (SI) examples

by retired

Apr 24, 2012

I firmly believe students don't like the metric system because they're unfamiliar with the sizes of the units and the customary examples used in class.

I used to do a simple activity to show them they didn't know the sizes. I handed out small cards and asked the kids to write their best estimates for the following: 1. The distance from school to your home, in miles and kilometers. 2. Your height, in feet and inches, and in meters. Collect the cards and tabulate the results. The estimates in miles and feet and inches will seem pretty good, but the SI unit estimates will vary wildly. Point out this is because they have had practical reinforcement all their lives in the customary units (mile markers, next exit so many miles, their height was always measured in feet and inches), but not the SI units. This activity builds their curiosity as to just how big the SI units are.

I then give them the following examples which I think are better for giving them a real "feel" for h...See MoreI firmly believe students don't like the metric system because they're unfamiliar with the sizes of the units and the customary examples used in class.

I used to do a simple activity to show them they didn't know the sizes. I handed out small cards and asked the kids to write their best estimates for the following: 1. The distance from school to your home, in miles and kilometers. 2. Your height, in feet and inches, and in meters. Collect the cards and tabulate the results. The estimates in miles and feet and inches will seem pretty good, but the SI unit estimates will vary wildly. Point out this is because they have had practical reinforcement all their lives in the customary units (mile markers, next exit so many miles, their height was always measured in feet and inches), but not the SI units. This activity builds their curiosity as to just how big the SI units are.

I then give them the following examples which I think are better for giving them a real "feel" for how big the units really are:

1 g = $1 bill (or a five, ten, two, twenty, fifty, or a hundred). If I wasn't a teacher, I really don't think there would have been paper clips in my house over the last 28 years. A dollar is a lot more familiar to most students than a paper clip.

1 kg = 1 liter of water. A two-liter soda would be about two kilos, therefore. Of course the sugar in the pop and the bottle add extra mass. Stress this only works with water. Other liquids have different densities.

50 mi/h is really close to 80 km/h as shown on car speedometers. Drop the zeroes and that makes a km about 5/8 of a mile.

The following are more lame- A meter's a bit longer than a yard.

A liter's a quart and a swallow, if you're talking beverages. (liters are the one unit kids have a good grasp of since drinks are marketed in them)

A newton's about a quarter pound.

I really never had any kids worried about measuring and calculating in my physical science classes since I started opening each semester with this approach.

Thanks if you've read this far. I've been out of teaching for two years now and was missing it a bit.

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