In this article, Lindsey Fowler describes how an animal rhyme--that she shared with her fifth-grade students with the intention of assisting them with the concept of metric conversions--made fostering the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) more difficult. The addition of animals, which added an extraneous element that students mistakenly…

Australia has used SI metric units for measurement for decades now, although the conversion of measurements from the earlier Imperial units--known as metrication--commenced subsequently in 1971, and was not completed until 1988. All Primary and Secondary schools were using only metric units in school lessons by 1973, and it became illegal to teach…

Plans are under way to redefine the International System of Units (SI) around 2018. The new SI specifies the values of certain physical constants to define units. This article explains the new SI in order to provide a resource for high school teachers as well as for advanced students already familiar with the pre-2018 SI.

The current use of two sets of units in the UK continues to be a source of muddle and confusion. Young people are taught metric (SI) units in school but, in the outside world, still have to contend with units such as inches, feet, pounds, stones and miles. Specialist teachers and practitioners of the sciences are not blameless. This paper…

This paper reports results of a design experiment regarding young children's concepts of mass measurement. The research built on an earlier study in which a framework of "growth points" in early mathematics learning and a related, task-based, one-to-one interview to assess children's understanding of the measurement of mass…

Many science problems require students to convert units. While this skill may not get the attention that more central science concepts do, teachers in the middle school and early high school grades will be doing their students a great service by leaving them with a strong understanding of both the skill itself and the reasons behind it. When the…

The authors conducted a qualitative interview-based study to reveal students' misconceptions about state in sequential circuits. This paper documents 16 misconceptions of state, how students' conceptions of state shift and change, and students' methodological weaknesses. These misconceptions can be used to inform and direct instruction. This study…

Today's society is characterized by a plurality of cultures in such a way that a person will often interact and interrelate with new cultures. The situation becomes even more complicated when one has to adapt to a new culture for a short period of time (travel or study visit) or a long period of time (new work place, emigration etc.). Any…

The American College Testing Program has designed a kit of metric instructional materials for secondary students. The materials are described and recommendations for implementation are provided. (Author/MLF)

Using the triple beam balance to measure mass in metrics is just one of the many skills teachers want their students to master. The author has found a few effective and fun approaches to develop this skill over a couple of interesting days. With each activity, students are actively involved in the construction of knowledge: What is mass and how is…

By the time students reach a middle school science course, they are expected to make measurements using the metric system. However, most are not practiced in its use, as their experience in metrics is often limited to one unit they were taught in elementary school. This lack of knowledge is not wholly the fault of formal education. Although the…

Suggests that metrics need to be taught at an emotional level and lists examples which personalize metric measures for students (e.g., how much can I carry, at what temperature am I cold, how far is it to the grocery store?). (JMB)

The basics of the metric system are explained, and the materials a teacher will need to instruct students in metrics are described. (JD)

Constructing model hot air balloons is an activity that captures the imaginations of students, enabling teachers to present required content to minds that are open to receive it. Additionally, there are few activities that lend themselves to integrating so much content across subject areas. In this article, the authors describe how they have…

Before introducing the metric system, the author spends a week having his class use arbitrary and exotic measuring methods, so that they learn to appreciate the need for metrics as a common standard of measurement. (SJL)