The Metric System

“Systeme International”

Base 10 System

Works for all units of measurement length, volume, time, and mass

length, volume, time, mass

The Standard or English System is what you are used to using in the US … MOST other countries use METRIC!

Length = Inch or Foot Volume = Cup, ounce, gallon Time = Second Mass = Pound

length, volume, time, mass

The Metric system is used for ALL sciences.

Length = Meter (m) Volume = Liter (L) Time = Second (s) Mass = Gram (g)

Base 10 Metric

10 millimeters = 1 centimeter

10 centimeters = 1 decimeter

10 decimeters = 1 meter

10 meters = 1 dekameter

10 dekameters = 1 hectameter

10 hectameters = 1 kilometer

English 12 inches = 1 foot 3 feet = 1 yard 5.5 yards = 1 rod 320 rods = 1 mile

5280 feet = 1 mile

Easy to use

Base 10 allows scientists to easily change units to make numbers more manageable

How many days old are you?

Easier to use years huh…

Making Observations

Science is all about combining observations into big ideas Sometimes we describe▪ Dogs are larger than mice

Sometimes we take measurments▪ The average height of a dog is 0.56 m

Those Observations must be PRECISE AND ACCURATE

What observations can we make?

Making Observations

ACCURATE As close to the known value as possible

PRECISE Every measurement is of the same thing

is close to one another

Making Observations

Prefix – name in front of the unit

DownRightUp Left

1 cm = 0.01 m1 cm = 10 mm

Example: 1.2hL dL

3 steps down to the right = 1200 dL

340.2cg kg 5 steps up to the left 0.003 402 kg