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 metric system has been around since the 1600s and its use was made legal in the United States in 1866, most U.S. residents are not proficient with it. It is usually necessary to reteach the metric system before students can collect and report data in scientific terms. After teaching students about the units that are used in scientific measurement, the author has them build the metric box described in the activity at the end of this article. The metric box is a small paper cube that students measure, cut, fold, and tape. Students practice measuring and recording lengths and then represent those collective lengths graphically and numerically. The metric box is an exercise in following directions, making metric measurements, and collecting and displaying data.