 The metric system is similar to the ______________ system  Ex: there are ____ pennies in a dime; _____dimes in a dollar; _____ dollars in a $10 bill.  The metric system is based on a system of 10

 For larger items, the metric system uses length in meters  A meter is a little bit larger than a yard  A meter is about the length from the tip of your finger to the tip of your nose  (You know you want to try it!)  The abbreviation for meter is m  A period is not used with abbreviations for metric units

 A common tool for measuring length is a meterstick A meterstick is divided into equal units called centimeters. There are 100 centimeters in a meter The abbreviation for centimeter is cm.

 Sometimes even a centimeter is to larger and you need a smaller unit, called a millimeter There are 10 millimeters (mm) in each centimeter. A meter has 1000 mm

 Sometimes you need a larger unit for distances, like to use to measure from here to your house.  While we would talk about this distance in miles using the customary system, the metric system uses kilometers (km).

10 mm1 cm 1000 mm1 m 100 cm1 m 1000 m1 km

PrefixMeaningUnit and its abbreviation Kilo- (k)1000xKilometer (km) Centi- (c)1/100 or.01Centimeter (cm) Milli- (m)1/1000 or.001Millimeter (mm)