#Metric scale ruler conversions how to

In 1999, because of an unbelievable math error, NASA lost its $125-million Mars Climate Orbiter!!! This is a great time to discuss NASA’s big giant measuring failure.

This is not something that they are memorizing for science class or some rote and irrelevant skill that they are being forced to learn that they’ll never use again. Next I like to prove to my students that in the real world outside of the science classroom, people actually USE the Metric System. NASA’s Measuring Failure Newspaper cartoon depicting the measurement mix up by NASA and Lockheed Martin scientists that led to the Mars Climate Orbiter disaster (Source: ) When I ask if they’d like to learn a simpler system, they’re all like, “Heck YES!”.

These relationships are completely irrelevant and random now!īy this point, they are hoping there is a simpler system. Well, to be frank, these numbers came from antiquated things like the length of the King’s foot and the size of a barleycorn. But then there are 16 tablespoons in a cup and 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon.Īnd one bushel of apples divided by 4 equals a peck of apples.Īt this point they are like, “Where did these random numbers come from?!” There are 4 quarts in a gallon and 2 pints in a quart. Then they usually know that there are 12 inches in a foot and some know that there are 3 feet in a yard.īut then I share that there are 1760 yards and 5280 feet in a mile (what? why?!). I tell them that for mass, one ton divided by 2000 equals one pound and one pound divided by 16 equals one ounce. To help students see these truths, I provide them with the conversions for the Imperial System. I have found it very effective to have students come to the conclusion themselves that the Imperial System of measurement is DIFFICULT, CONFUSING, and NOT INTUITIVE! This helps them to understand why we don’t use the Imperial System in science, and it also helps them to buy in to why they DO need to learn METRICS!

#Metric scale ruler conversions how to

In this post, I am providing some ideas for teaching your science students how to use the Metric System! Why the Imperial System is Silly residents, they’ve been deprived of simple units measurement all their lives! Little do they know how EASY it is and that as U.S. Usually when they first see the words ‘Metric System’ on the agenda board, my students suddenly have a look of dread and start making groaning sounds. This is a foundational science process skill that they will use all year long and for the rest of their ‘careers’ as students of science!įor some reason there seems to be a totally unfounded stigma around the Metric System.

When my husband and I lived in New Zealand for two years, we definitely had to get used to using the Metric System for everyday things like baking and paper size and recording our weights at doctors appointments.īut, as an architect, my husband LOVED using the Metric System once he made the leap from the (silly) system that he was used to here in the States (inches, feet, pounds, etc.).Īt the beginning of the school year, I really drill how important it is that my students learn and understand the Metric System.