1. The Metric System
Unit 0 Lesson 6

2. UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
Scientists worldwide use a single system of measurement: System International d’Unites (International System of Measurements) or SI.
Its main units of measurement are:
Length: Meter (m)
Volume: Liter (L)
Mass: Kilogram (kg)

3. PREFIXES AND UNITS
Prefixes indicate multiples or fractions of units of measurement. Units give specific meaning to numbers.
Used together, prefixes and units provide information about ‘how much’ and ‘what’ was measured.
It is common to refer to both the prefix and the unit as units or set of units.
Prefix
Meaning
Kilo
1,000
Hecto
100
Deka 10
Deci
0.1
Centi
0.01
Milli
0.001

4. CONVERSION
It is often necessary to convert one set of units to another.
The conversion is done by finding the number of decimal places traversed or ‘jumped’ when moving from one prefix to another.
Prefix
Meaning
Kilo
1,000
Hecto
100
Deka 10
Deci
0.1
Centi
0.01
Milli
0.001

5. CONVERSION EXAMPLE 1 Example: Convert 225 milliliters to hectoliters.
How many ‘jumps’ is it from milli to hecto?
Kilo – hecto – deka – (main unit) – deci – centi – milli
There are 5 jumps to the left. Move the decimal point 5 places to the left, filling the empty spaces after the decimal point with zeroes.
225 milliliters = hectoliters
Prefix
Meaning
Kilo
1,000
Hecto
100
Deka 10
Deci
0.1
Centi
0.01
Milli
0.001

6. CONVERSION EXAMPLE 2 Example: 15.78 kilograms = 1,578,000 centigrams
To convert kilograms to centigrams, move the decimal point 5 places to the right, filling in the extra space with zeroes.
In this example the prefix is converted from what to what?
And the unit is?
Prefix
Meaning
Kilo
1,000
Hecto
100
Deka 10
Deci
0.1
Centi
0.01
Milli
0.001

7. GRAPHING
Graphing is used to display data that is collected during a controlled experiment.
A graph must contain 5 major parts:
Title
Independent variable (X axis)
Dependent variable (Y axis)
Scales for each variable
Legend

8. PARTS OF A GRAPH
The title should clearly depict what the graph is about.
The independent variable is the variable which is controlled or predictable in an experiment. It is placed on the horizontal X axis.
The dependent variable is what changes in response to the independent variable. It is placed on the vertical Y axis.
Title

9. PARTS OF A GRAPH
In order to know where to plot data points, scales must be used on both axes. Scales typically start at 0 and increase based on set intervals like 2, 5, 10, 20, etc. The scale will be dictated by your data.
The legend is the description of the data. For example, if you are using a line graph and have multiple lines of different colors, the legend should explain what each color represents.
Scales