[USMA:46915] Re: Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

[Stephen Humphreys]

>From someone in the middle (me!).  Well sort of.
I agree with the notion that being pedantic will hardly sell metric.
Imagine going to buy a car at a dealer and asking 'I would like alloys on a new 
car' only to be asked which metals should be used in the alloy and in which 
percentage!
And I would not have a problem if a question said: "Convert five pounds to 
pence".
Just my 2-pence worth (£0.02) - ignore if you wish.
> From: vliets...@btinternet.com
> To: usma@colostate.edu
> Subject: [USMA:46914] Re: Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:24:34 +0000
> 
> 
> Maybe it is worth standing back at looking at how money is handled.  Does
> the Core State Standard "convert" between cents and dollars or only between
> dollars and euros?  
> 
> As I see it, there should be two sets of vocabulary:
> * The first that describes the relationship between dollars and cents,
>   between grams and kilograms, between metres and centimeters
> * The second that describes the relationship between dollars and euros,
>   feet and inches, gallons and litres.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf
> Of James R. Frysinger
> Sent: 11 March 2010 20:57
> To: U.S. Metric Association
> Subject: [USMA:46913] Re: Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
> 
> 
> John,
> 
> You can make a fine technical point to support your view and, were we at 
> a convention of metrologists, I would expect such precision in your 
> speech. However, we are addressing the issue of teaching the SI to 
> children for what we hope will be used by them in their quotidian lives.
> 
> Notice ...
> NIST SP 811 (2008), Table B.9, p. 59, one of many examples therein:
> [in three columns]
> To convert from               To              Multiply by
> watt second (W . s)   joule (J)       1.0 E+00
> 
> What word would you propose in lieu of "convert"?
> 
> I'm coming at this discussion from a practical view, John. Not one of 
> technical language purity. Let's teach 'em the metric system and get 
> them to use it. Those who wish to become metrologists can then 
> matriculate to courses of study where greater care is taken with the 
> terminology. Second grade is too early for that.
> 
> Jim
> 
> John Frewen-Lord wrote:
> > 
> > Jim:
> > 
> > I beg to differ!
> > 
> > I used the word 'fundamental' in my previous email very deliberately.  
> > With customary units, miles, yards, feet, inches (length); pounds, 
> > ounces (mass), etc, are each discrete units, with a conversion factor to 
> > convert one from the other (12 inches in a foot, etc, etc).  As we all 
> > know, SI does not work like that - you simply add a, or change an 
> > existing, prefix to better reflect the magnitude of a particular 
> > quantity.  Rescaling -yes. Converting - no.
> > 
> > Without teaching that, you cannot understand what SI is truly about.  I 
> > got the impression in reading the Common Core State Standards that the 
> > person who wrote those standards missed this fundamental concept 
> > altogether - i.e. he/she wrote the metric part in the same context (i.e. 
> > with conversion factors) as for the customary part.  And to me that's 
> > wrong.
> > 
> > Hence my comment - to me this is fundamental, and not simply a minor 
> > nit-pick.
> > 
> > John F-L
> > 
> > 
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "James R. Frysinger" 
> > <j...@metricmethods.com>
> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu>
> > Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 8:05 PM
> > Subject: [USMA:46911] Re: Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
> > 
> > 
> >>
> >> I suppose one could make a point for using something like "rescale" as 
> >> opposed to "convert" when changing a value statement in centimeters to 
> >> one in millimeters, for example.
> >>
> >> However, I don't see this as a major point. The word "convert" can 
> >> mean a wide variety of things. I would say "convert common fractions 
> >> to decimal fractions" even though 1/2 is the same value as 0.5.
> >>
> >> To me, the major focus ought to be getting the children not only to 
> >> learn metric units but also to use them! And the latter ought to 
> >> include projects and work in lessons for English, foreign languages, 
> >> art, social studies, etc.
> >>
> >> I have a fear that if we get to nit-picky about some of these little 
> >> things, we will only make the metric system seem obscure and difficult.
> >>
> >> Jim
> >>
> >> John Frewen-Lord wrote:
> >>>
> >>> One doesn't of course 'convert' between centimeters and meters - they 
> >>> are essentially one and the same thing.  This reveals a fundamental 
> >>> failure to understand what the metric system (let alone SI) is about.
> >>>
> >>> As for mentioning the centimeter, and not the millimeter - Pat N 
> >>> should be having fits by now!  Still, all part of the failure in 
> >>> teaching SI.
> >>>
> >>> John F-L
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: <mech...@illinois.edu>
> >>> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu>
> >>> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 7:31 PM
> >>> Subject: [USMA:46909] Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On Page 16 of the DRAFT (for Grade 2), under "Length Measurement" is 
> >>>> the statement: "Understand that 1 inch, 1 foot, 1 centimeter, and 1 
> >>>> meter are conventionally defined lengths used as standard units. 
> >>>> "There is no mention of SI.
> >>>>
> >>>> On Page 20 (for Grade 3) is the statement: "Determine and compare 
> >>>> areas by counting square units.  Use cm^2, m^2, in^2, ft^2, and 
> >>>> improvised units." There is no mention of SI.
> >>>>
> >>>> On Page 24 (for Grade 4) is the statement:  "...show distances along 
> >>>> a race course to tents of a mile on a number line, by dividing the 
> >>>> unit of length into 10 equal parts to get parts of length 1/10...." 
> >>>> There is no mention of SI.
> >>>>
> >>>> On Page 28 (for Grade 5)is the statement:  Convert among differently 
> >>>> sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system 
> >>>> (e.g. feet to yards, centimeters to meters, and use conversions in 
> >>>> solving multiple word problems." also "...determine and compare 
> >>>> volumes...by counting cubic units (using cm^3, m^3, in^3,ft^3, and 
> >>>> improvised units." There is no mention of SI.
> >>>>
> >>>> These are all the measurement related statements I have found to 
> >>>> data. The failure to even mention SI is a serious omission in my 
> >>>> opinion.  I expect to more formally call attention to this major 
> >>>> deficiency.
> >>>>
> >>>> Gene Mechtly
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> -- 
> >> James R. Frysinger
> >> 632 Stony Point Mountain Road
> >> Doyle, TN 38559-3030
> >>
> >> (C) 931.212.0267
> >> (H) 931.657.3107
> >> (F) 931.657.3108
> >>
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> -- 
> James R. Frysinger
> 632 Stony Point Mountain Road
> Doyle, TN 38559-3030
> 
> (C) 931.212.0267
> (H) 931.657.3107
> (F) 931.657.3108
> 
                                          
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