I think this "article" Han found about inner city youths having a better
feel for metric was tongue in cheek. All the quantities referred to involve
illegal drugs, guns, violence, etc. (e.g., 7.62 mm = .30 caliber bullet; 9
mm is a popular gangbangers handgun).
> -----Original Message-----
> from han.maenen
>
> Los Angeles is one of the epicenters! Maybe a chance for the USMA to get
> involved.
>
> > WASHINGTON, DC--Despite other academic shortcomings, inner-city youths
> possess a firmer grasp of the metric system than their peers in
> suburban and
> rural areas, according to a Department Of Education study released Monday.
>
>
> "While the typical teen has only a vague notion of what a
> kilogram is,
> teens in the Cabrini Green housing projects in Chicago and the Watts
> neighborhood of Los Angeles were thoroughly familiar with this unit of
> metric measurement," said Ira Danielson, the researcher who
> spearheaded the
> study. "They were able to identify a kilogram of weight by merely
> tossing it
> back and forth in their hands."
>
> According to Danielson, young people in America's urban
> centers are so
> familiar with the kilogram that they have developed a system of
> abbreviations for the measurement, such as "kilo" or even "ki" (pronounced
> key).
>
> "Most of the teens, even those reading at a fourth-grade level, were
> familiar with the gram as a base unit that can be either compounded or
> divided," Danielson said. "Finally, here's an area where at-risk urban
> youths can really shine."
>
> In addition to their expertise with grams, urban youths proved
> knowledgeable about other metric units, including the millimeter, cubic
> centimeter, and liter.
>
> "They were surprisingly familiar with metric measurements in the
> medical field, aware that liters of blood are used in an
> emergency room and
> that certain medications are injected in cc's or mls," Danielson
> said. "They
> also knew a great deal about ounces, but we preferred to focus on their
> metric expertise."
>
> Danielson said the discovery of the metric knowledge came as "a
> wonderful surprise."
>
> "A few months ago, we were conducting a study to ascertain the basic
> skill level of high-school freshmen with poor attendance
> records--truant 14-
> to 15-year-olds who hadn't set foot in a classroom in months," Danielson
> said. "In the course of this study, an amazing pattern of metric expertise
> emerged among these kids. Upon discovering this pocket of
> knowledge, we knew
> we had to explore it further."
>
> In a follow-up study titled "Metric Skills Among The Economically
> Disadvantaged," Danielson and his team of researchers discovered that not
> only did the youths score higher in metric knowledge than any other
> demographic, but many could also distinguish among the smallest variations
> in size and amount.
>
>
> Above: A Presidential Award For Metric Achievement hangs in an area of
> Detroit renowned for its metric use.
> In one test, subjects were asked to follow a recipe for
> "metric-weight
> chocolate-chip Cookies." Researchers found that the teens had a natural
> ability to estimate measurements of sugar, flour, and baking
> powder without
> using any measuring tools. When the use of a balance scale was
> required, the
> teens knew exactly how to operate it.
>
> "Y'all need 500 grams of flour," said Erick Boykins, a 16-year-old
> study participant from Newark, NJ, scraping out a small pile of
> flour with a
> razor. "That's half a kilo right there. Now the recipe says we
> gotta cut it
> with 200 g's of sugar."
>
> After combining all the ingredients, Boykins deftly divided
> the dough
> into 50 lumps of cookie dough almost identical in weight.
>
> The cookie test was cut short by the disappearance of 25 scales, but
> results are still being called "conclusive."
>
> Hoping to use the youths' metric zeal as "a springboard to further
> learning," the Department Of Education has launched "Da Math Skillz"
> program.
>
> "As any good teacher knows, it's important to start with a
> foundation
> of knowledge and build on that," Danielson said. "Our plan is to
> begin with
> grams and millimeters, then move on to other metric units like newtons,
> amperes, and candelas."
>
> The program, however, has run into some early snags.
>
> "The youths seem to have some large blind spots in their knowledge,"
> Danielson said. "For example, they know millimeters very well and can
> distinguish between something that's 9mm wide and something
> 7.62mm wide, but
> for some reason, not one of the teens had ever heard of a hectare. And
> though they know how much volume a cc represents, none knew it stood for
> cubic centimeter."
>
> Nevertheless, metric-use advocates were pleased to hear
> about the new
> metric-education initiative.
>
> "For some unfathomable reason, the U.S. is the only major
> industrialized nation in the world not using the metric system," said Dr.
> Michael Lenzi of UCLA's Center For Statistical Data. "At long last, it
> appears that the metric system is being embraced by a progressive
> segment of
> the population outside the scientific community."
>
> Such trends, Lenzi noted, often originate in major cities before
> spreading to the rest of the nation.
>
> "While metric awareness is strongest in the cores of Chicago, Los
> Angeles, and New York, data indicates that it's spreading into smaller
> cities like Wichita, Portland, and Columbus, and even into the suburbs,"
> Lenzi added. "That's an educational trend you've got to love."
>
> ©2001 Google
>
>
>
>
