1. Metric System

2. Introduction
In science class, we will be using the metric system to make measurements.
It is a system used by scientists all over the world.
Most of the people in other countries use it every day.
In the U.S., we use the English System for measurement.

3. English System Units Length – inches, feet, yards, miles
Volume – cups, quarts, gallons
Weight – ounces, pounds, tons
Temperature – degrees Fahrenheit
Time – seconds, hours, days

4. Metric System Units Length – meters Volume – liters
Mass (Weight) – grams
Temperature – degrees Celsius
Time – seconds

5. Prefixes Kilo – 1,000 1 kilometer = 1,000 meters
1 kilogram = 1,000 grams

6. Prefixes Centi – 1/100th 1 meter = 100 centimeters Milli – 1/1000th
1 meter = 1000 millimeters
1 liter = 1000 milliliters

7. Converting
To go from a smaller unit to a larger unit of measurement, move the decimal to the left.
2345 mm = cm = m
789 mm = 78.9 cm = .789 m

8. Converting
To go from a larger unit to a smaller unit of measurement, move the decimal to the right.
2.345 m = cm = 2345 mm
.789 m = 78.9 cm = 789 mm

9. Distance
The distance across the tip of your pinky is approximately 1 centimeter (cm).
A baseball bat is approximately 1 meter (m) long.
You would measure the distance from BMS to the Mall of Georgia in kilometers (km).

10. Volume Volume is the amount of space something occupies.
A can of soda is 355 milliliters (ml).
A big bottle of soda is 2 liters (l).

11. Mass
Mass is the amount of matter in an object. It’s the same thing as weight on Earth.
One kilogram (kg) is just over 2 pounds.
A penny has a mass of about 2 grams (g).

12. Temperature
The temperature in this room is about 20 degrees C, or about 68 degrees F.
Water freezes at 0 degrees C and boils at 100 degrees C.

13. Time
Time is measured in the metric system the same way we measure time normally.

14. One More Thing
We don’t normally use fractions when measuring in metric units. We use decimals.
We would write 1 ½ m as 1.5 m.