2000-11-27
This information should be sent to the guy who made the statement about the
10 year olds. But, again, he wouldn't believe it. He would tell you it is
anti-American, communist devised, foreign propaganda.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
Behalf Of Dennis Brownridge
Sent: Monday, 2000-11-27 12:35
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:9385] American's knowledge of SI vs. WOMBAT
In case anyone is interested, here are the other detailed results of the
test we gave to all our students and faculty in 1998. The numbers are the
percentage of respondents who knew the CORRECT answer. The first number is
students (grades 7-12, but mostly 9 through 12), and the second number is
faculty. (All but two of our faculty were native Americans; those two were
young Canadians, who scored poorly on both the SI and WOMBAT questions).
The questions are shortened. In the original wording on the actual test,
most of the conversion-factor questions were phrased as fill-ins so they
couldn't guess. The others were multiple choice. For the wombat units with
odd or decimal conversions, we accepted as "correct" any answer that was
remotely close to the actual value (e.g., for gallon, we accepted
any value
from 225 to 250 cubic inches; for bushel, any value from 2000 to 2500 cubic
inches; for nautical mile, any value between 6000 and 6100 feet; for acre,
any value from 43 000 to 44 000 square feet; for troy ounces in a
pound, any
value from 14 to 15). But they still got them wrong.
Using a ruler
1. measure a specified line to nearest millimeter with a metric
ruler: 65%
83%
2. measure a specified line to nearest 1/16" with an inch ruler: 20% 73%
SI questions
3. kilo = thousand or 1000: 65% 67%
4. milli = 0.001 or 1/1000: 69% 73%
5. mega = million: 62% 67%
6. liter (L) = 1000 milliliters (mL): 64% 73%
7. gram (g) = 1000 milligrams (mg): 61% 67%
8. kilogram (kg) = 1000 grams (g): 54% 70%
9. kilometer (km) = 1000 meters (m): 56% 57%
10. cubic meter (m�) = 1000 liters (L): 19% 20%
11. meter (m) = 100 centimeters (cm): 60% 77%
WOMBAT questions
12. mile (statute or land) = 5280 feet: 31% 63%
13. pound (avoirdupois) = 16 ounces: 49% 13%
14. cubic foot = 1728 cubic inches: 14% 37%
15. nautical mile = 6076 feet (approximately): 0% 0%
16. U.S. quart = 32 fluid ounces: 6% 50%
17. U.S. gallon = 231 cubic inches: 0% 0%
18. acre = 43 560 square feet (approximately): 0% 0%
19. ton (short) = 2000 pounds: 33% 53%
20. U.S. bushel = 2150 cubic inches (approximately): 0% 0%
21. pound (avoirdupois) = 14.6 troy ounces (approximately): 0% 0%
Understanding quantities; a sense of scale (both SI and wombat)
22. the quantity of matter is called mass: 64% 67%
23. the kilogram is a unit of mass: 22% 37%
24. the liter measures volume: 79% 77%
25. a typical adult man is about 75 kg: 56% 63%
26. the distance to Phoenix (an hour's drive) is about 100 km: 50% 77%
27. the temperature of freezing water is 0 �C: 70% 80%
28. the temperature of freezing water is 32 �F: 56% 87%
29. 1 liter of water is 1 kilogram: 18% 17%
30. a U.S. gallon of water is about 8.3 pounds: 0% 3%
