Metric System 101

Measurement Must have a standard. A standard is an exact quantity people agree to use for comparison. A standard means two people using the same object should get close to the same results.

Standards of the past People used to use parts of their body to determine the length of something. The standard would be a part of the king’s anatomy. The standard yard was the distance from the king’s nose to his outstretched arm

People would use their feet to measure distance This is how the term foot came about. Today the standard “foot” in the English system is 12 inches = 1 foot

The English system is very confusing because it has so many different values

America is the only country that still uses the old English system

Scientists give the English system the thumbs down Scientists needed an exact and uniform system of weights and measurements So they created the metric system Based in units of 10

How did the metric system come about? During the18th century scientists measured the distance from the earth’s equator to its North Pole and divided it into ten million parts. This is how they came up with the length of the standard meter.

The Meter The standard for the meter is kept in a safe in France. The meter stick is a replica of that standard A meter is made up of 100 centimeters and 1000 millimeters

The Mistake Two different groups of scientists were working on the calculations to send a probe to Mars. The American team did their calculations in the English standard and the other team did it in the metric system (OOPS!) MARS

King/Queen’s Foot Your corner of the room is now a country Your job is to now measure the king/queen’s foot with string The new standard for the foot in your country

King/Queen’s foot Your country now needs to build a house using the ruler’s foot as a standard Make a 1 foot x 1 foot box as a base Measure then cut out 1x1 box out of butcher’s paper Decorate it if you want to 1 foot 1 foot

King/Queen’s foot DISASTER! Your king/queen just died! Measure out the new ruler’s foot with a new piece of string Use this new standard to create a triangle roof with 1 foot sides 1 foot

King/Queen’s foot Cut out your new roof Does your house fit perfectly?? Exit Slip: Why does not having a consistent standard for measurement cause problems?