1 Must have a standard. A standard is an exact quantity people agree to use for comparison. A standard means two people using the same object should get close to the same results. A measurement

2 Standards of the past People used to use parts of their body to determine the length of something. The standard would be a part of the king’s anatomy. The standard yard was the distance from the king’s nose to his outstretched arm

3 People would use their feet to measure distance This is how the term foot came about. Today the standard “foot” in the English system is 12 inches = 1 foot

4 America is the only country that still uses the old English system Scientists do not like the Old English system because it takes to long to convert objects as well as measure them. Scientists also need an exact and uniform system of weights and measurements.

5 How did the metric system come about? During the18th century scientists measured the distance from the earth’s equator to its North Pole and divided it into ten million parts. This is how they came up with the length of the standard meter.

6 The standard for the meter is kept in a safe in France. The meter stick is a replica of that standard A meter is made up of 100 centimeters and 1000 millimeters The Meter

7

8 The most common metric units of length are:  millimeter  centimeter  meter  kilometer

9 Metric Units of Length  The basic unit of length in the metric system is the meter.  All of the other metric units of length are defined in terms of the meter.

10 Metric chart Kilo means thousand (1000) Hecto means hundred (100) Deca means ten (10) Deci means one-tenth (1/10) Centi means one-hundredth (1/100) Milli means one-thousandth (1/1000)

11 Another way of remembering King Henry Died Basically Drinking Chocolate Milk K – Kilo- H – Hecto- D – Deka- B – Basic- D – Deci- C – Centi- M – Milli-

12 UnitSymbolMeaningModel

13 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimeter centimeter meter kilometer

14 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm centimeter meter kilometer

15 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 m centimeter meter kilometer

16 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimeter meter kilometer

17 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimetercm meter kilometer

18 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimetercm0.01 m meter kilometer

19 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimetercm0.01 mWidth of a large paperclip meter kilometer

20 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimetercm0.01 mWidth of a large paperclip meterm kilometer

21 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimetercm0.01 mWidth of a large paperclip meterm1 m kilometer

22 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimetercm0.01 mWidth of a large paperclip meterm1 mWidth of a doorway kilometer

23 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimetercm0.01 mWidth of a large paperclip meterm1 mWidth of a doorway kilometerkm

24 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimetercm0.01 mWidth of a large paperclip meterm1 mWidth of a doorway kilometerkm1000 m

25 UnitSymbolMeaningModel millimetermm0.001 mThickness of a dime centimetercm0.01 mWidth of a large paperclip meterm1 mWidth of a doorway kilometerkm1000 mAbout 2 ½ times around the track

26 Metric Units of Length  1kilometer = 1000 meters  1meter = 100 centimeters  1centimeter = 10 millimeters  1meter = 1000 millimeters

27 Which metric unit of length would be the most appropriate to measure: the distance between cities? the length of an ant? the length of your math book? the length of the hallway? the height of a giraffe?

28 Metric Units of Length  To change from a large unit to a small unit - multiply Measurement Conversion  To change from a small unit to a large unit - divide