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Metric, Metric, & More Metrics

Objective: Students will picture the problem to be measured and choose the appropriate measurement for the task. Students will answer real-life story problems dealing with the metric system. Student will practice conversions related to the metric system.

Measurements in the Bible

Even though the metric system had not been invented in Ezekiel's time, it is interesting that many of the methods of measurement used during his time were in tenths, just as the metric system of today uses tens.

Having a system of measurement that is used by everyone is important in keeping people honest. This was true in the time of Ezekiel just as it is today. No one wants to be cheated and God does not like cheaters either. In Ezekiel 45:10 ESV, He tells Israel:

"You shall have just balances, a just ephah (a dry measure) and, a just bath (a liquid measure). The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer (a dry measure) and the ephah one tenth of a homer: The homer shall be the standard measure. The shekel (about 11.5 grams) shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina."

Having a set system of measurement keeps people honest. We must keep in mind that God does not like liars and cheating is a form of lying. With that being said being honest in our measurements is not only important to the people we are working with but most importantly to God. In the world of science, the metric system will be used in order to keep all measurements as accurate as possible.

Which metric unit should I use?

Story (word) problems are important because they give us a chance to practice real-life situations. Just knowing how to measure is useless unless we can apply the knowledge to real situations. Watch this video which explains how to tackle word problems, then try these on for size.

The following videos contain many words and tips that will be helpful for you as you are solving word problems. Copy these words in your notebook and study them. You will use them over and over, not only in science but in your math classes as well.

Simply knowing which metric unit to use when solving a problem is often not enough. Knowing how to convert metric units is also important. It is always important to use the same units in a problem as well. In order to make this possible, it is often necessary to convert from one unit to another before starting to work a problem.

Metric Conversions

Here are the basics of metric conversion:

Did you know that King Henry could help you remember how to make metric conversions?

King henry.jpg

image from YouTube.com

Watch this video and learn the trick:

Remember:

King Henry Died Unexpectedly drinking chocolate milk.
To go from a larger measure to a smaller measure (going DOWN the chart), move the decimal from left to right.
To go from a smaller measure to a larger one (going UP the chart), move the decimal from right to left.
The base measures are the meter, liter, gram, and seconds (seconds is not included on your chart).
Deca and deci are distinguished with deca being "da" and deci being "d". For example, decaliter would be daL and deciliter would be dL.

Examples:

A. 25L = ___ mL (3 steps down, so move your decimal three places to the right)

25L = 25,000mL

B. 72 mm = ____ m (3 steps up, so move your decimal three places to the left)

72 mm = .072m

C. 9.3 hg = ___ mg (5 steps down, so move your decimal 5 places to the right)

9.3 hg = 930,000 mg

**Try these on your own in your notebook:

A. 403 m = ____ mm

B. 54 cm = ____ mm

C. 305 kg = ___ g

(A. 403,000 mm; B. 540 mm; C. 305,000 g)