1. 16 Sep 2013 _____ milliliter _____ kilogram
For each of the following commonly used measurements, indicate its symbol. Use the symbols to complete the following sentences with the most appropriate unit. Units may be used more than once or not at all. These are your benchmarks.
_____ milliliter _____ kilogram
_____ meter _____ milligram
_____ millimeter _____ liter
_____ kilometer _____ second
_____ centimeter _____ gram
Colas may be purchased in two or three _____ bottles.
The mass of a bowling ball is 7.25 _____.
The length of the common housefly is about 1 _____.
The mass of a paperclip is about 1 _____.
One teaspoon of cough syrup has a volume of 5 _____.
Stand with your arms raised out to your side. The distance from your nose to your outstretched fingers is about 1 _____.
On a statistical basis, smoking a single cigarette lowers your life expectancy by 642,000 _____, or 10.7 minutes.

2. The Complete How-To Guide to Converting between SI Units
SI Staircase
The Complete How-To Guide to Converting between SI Units

3. Step 1 Copy the complete problem.
Leave a small space between the number and the unit.
Example:
L = ____________ mL

4. Step 2 If there is no decimal point, add one at the end of the number.
Think about how you would add a period at the end of a sentence.
Our Example:
L = __________ mL
If there is a decimal point, start from there. .

5. Step 3
Decide, will you be going from a larger unit to a smaller unit?
This means you will be going DOWN the staircase.
So you will be moving the decimal point to the RIGHT.
Or, will you be going from a smaller unit to a larger unit?
This means you w ill be going UP the staircase.
So you will be moving the decimal point to the LEFT.
Our Example:
L to mL, which way are we going?  
Bigger DOWN to smaller.

6. Step 4
After you decide which way the decimal point moves, draw a small arrow in that direction just above the number to help you remember which way you are going to move the decimal point.
Our Example: L = __________ mL

7. Step 5
Next, look at the SI staircase and decide how many steps you need to move from the given to the unknown units.
Our example: L to mL
From liter to deci
From deci to centi,
From centi to milli ⏎
We moved down 3 steps so the decimal point will move three places to the right. ⏎ ⏎

8. Step 6 Next, draw in each arrow, one at a time.
Add zero’s to hold place as needed.
Our example:
L = ___________ mL
Finally, rewrite the new answer in the blank, including zeros and the new placement of the decimal point.
L = mL . . . .
Final placement of the decimal point.

9. Let’s do another example

10. Step 1 Copy the complete problem.
Leave a small space between the number and the unit.
Example:
cm = ____________ km

11. Step 2 If there is no decimal point, add one at the end of the number.
If there is a decimal point, start from there.
Our Example:
cm = ____________ km
There is already a decimal point in our example.

12.  Step 3 Decide which direction you are going to move? smaller bigger
Our Example: cm to km
So we are going from a _________ unit to a _______ unit.
This means we are going ________ the staircase.
So we will be moving the decimal point to the _______.
smaller
bigger up 
left

13. Step 4
After you decide which way the decimal point moves, draw a small arrow in that direction just above the number to help you remember which way you are going to move the decimal point.
Our Example: cm = ____________ km

14. Step 5
Next, count how many steps we need to move up the staircase, from centi to kilo.
From centi to deci
From deci to meter,
From meter to deka
From deka to hecto
From hecto to kilo ⏎ ⏎ ⏎ ⏎
We moved up 5 steps so the decimal point will move five places to the left. ⏎

15. Step 6 Draw arrows that swoop to the left , 5 times.
Our example:
cm = ___________ km
Finally, rewrite the new answer in the blank, including zeros and the new placement of the decimal point.
64.7 cm = . . . . . .
Final placement of the decimal point. km

16. Practice Convert the following metric measurements:
1000 mg = _____ g 198 g = _____ kg 8 mm = _____ cm
160 cm = _____ mm 75 mL = _____ L 6.3 cm = _____ mm
109 g = _____ kg 50 cm = _____ m 5.6 m = _____ cm
250 m = _____ km 5 L = _____ mL 26,000 cm = _____ m
14 km = _____ m 16 cm = _____ mm 56,500 mm = _____ km
1 L = _____ mL 65 g = _____ mg mg = _____ g
480 cm = _____ m m = _____ km 923 cm = _____ m
27 g = _____ kg 355 mL = _____ L km = _____ cm