1. Metric System Quick! How many feet are there in 3 miles? How many meters in 3 kilometers?

2. Why use the metric system? The United States is one of only 3 countries in the world that do not use the metric system The other two are Myanmar and Liberia The metric system is also known as the International System of Units $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter Tokyo Disneyland Space Mountain

3. Where does our system come from? Our system is called the English system, although the English no longer use it. Foot - was traditionally defined as the length of a man’s foot wearing shoes Inch - was traditionally defined as the width of a man’s thumb

4. Where does the metric system come from? Meter (m) – distance – Originally 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the Equator and the North Pole – Now, the distance light travels in 1/299,792,458 of a second Liter (L) – volume – One cubic decimeter Gram (g) – mass – One kilogram is the weight of one liter of water All based on unchanging physical constants

5. Why the metric system is awesome Everything in the metric system is base ten meaning you just multiply or divide by tens to convert between units. Ex: 100 m = 10,000 cm Ex: 77 kg = 77,000 g Ex: 44 mL =.044 L

6. Other Important Scientific Units Time – seconds Temperature – Celsius and Kelvin Amount of chemical substances - mole