I have not suggested that the size of football fields or any other sports field be changed for metric only reasons.
Besides, the word "yards" and "metres" are not used much by announcers since they add precious time needed for other broadcast purposes, especially during fast moving events. The point I was making, people can see the actual distance to go when viewing on TV or in a stadium where the ball is located with respect to the lines. The numbers which announcers give are very approximate. Sure, they use the word "inches" or "yards" in a general way because those are the units of measurement for the particular game, in this case American football. Also, the chains used for measurement don't have units on them. They are used to determine if the ball has moved over the regulated distance, whatever that may be. In the case of transportation, distances on major signs give distances in 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile 3/4 mile etc. These sign could easily be changed to 400 m, 800 m, 1200 m etc. In track, the 440 yard dash is 1/4 mile or 400 m. Stan ----- Original Message ----- From: "kilopascal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2003 2:04 PM Subject: [USMA:24308] Re: A new year metric project > 2003-01-01 > > In American football, yards are a very important part of that game. People > who follow football are interested in how many yards someone has done > something, not how many lines. If football was changed to metres, people > would have to get use to those lines being in metres (e.g.. 10 m instead of > 10 yards per line) and that would be a learning experience for the whole > country. > > Since most people are sports fanatics, all sports, especially the popular > ones, should be in metric. It may not be necessary as far as the game is > concerned, but it is important as far as getting a feel for metric is > concerned. Without that feel of comfort for metric units, all of the > education in the state of Maryland and elsewhere is not going mean a hill of > beans when it comes to getting support for further metrication efforts. > > John > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "G. Stanley Doore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, 2003-01-01 11:45 > Subject: [USMA:24304] Re: A new year metric project > > > > Pat et al: > > > > You are addressing the public sector, games etc. What you are suggesting > > is OK but will require a lot of effort. For the most part, people don't > > care about measurements except for the numbers. Football and soccer field > > etc have lines and people only care about being within the lines. There > is > > no standard soccer (your football) fields size at least according to rules > > in the US. When kids play hop scotch for example, many times they just > draw > > lines in the dirt and then play. > > > > Most important is to get the kids to learn and memorize the names and > > symbols for the units, the SI writing style, the relationship of units and > > how they are meaningful to every day life. > > > > Stan Doore > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Pat Naughtin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 9:34 PM > > Subject: [USMA:24297] A new year metric project > > > > > > Dear Stan and All, > > > > One of the projects that I have considered for use in schools is the idea > of > > a metric playground that might include: > > > > . a metric chess board with squares 1 metre x 1 metre for graphing games > > with real people as graph points (Oh, and for playing chess � after > suitable > > research and dressing-up � as well as finding out how many kids you can > > stand on a square metre) The next challenge might be to allow stacking ie, > > to allow kids to form pyramids but still keep their base (their feet) > inside > > the square metre. > > > > . some cubic metres made from stout pipe (for climbing on) and stacked > in > > various formats > > > > . some cubic metres with solid sides for filling games (How many kids > can > > you fit into a cubic metre) > > > > . some 3 m - 4 m - 5 m triangles painted on the ground and maybe some > > 5 m � 12 m � 13 m or even 8 m � 15 m � 17 m triangles to provide > > comparisons. > > > > . a true north-south line for measuring shadows from a gnomon (vertical > > stick in this case) that is one metre high Other vertical sticks 2 m, 3 m, > > and 4 m are also handy for height comparisons. If possible you can use > these > > heights for sighting the horizon and estimating its distance. > > > > . various marked and labelled distances for pacing out your steps and > > checking your speeds when walking, jogging, running, cycling, or wheeling > > your wheelchair. Ten, twenty, fifty, and one hundred metre marks sound > good. > > You could couple with this some marked but 'unknown' distances for > guessing, > > estimating, and measuring. > > > > . a human measuring stick for measuring heights marked in 0.1 metre > > intervals (say by black and white bands like a surveyors stick) all the > way > > to 2.5 metres, which is the height of the tallest person who ever lived. > > > > . set of scales (with flat pans large enough to hold one or two > children) > > to determine masses of children by comparison with some masses � 2 x 5 kg, > > 2 x 10 kg, 2 x 20 kg, and 50 kg, should do. > > > > . a (fine free-running) sand pit with measured and labelled cups, jugs, > > saucepans, buckets, and various cubes and funnels (1 L, 2 L, 5 L, and 10 L > > sound like good sizes). > > > > . some � circles with a labelled diameter of 1000 millimetres and a > > circumference labelled as 3142 millimetres plus similar 2 m and 3 m > circles > > painted on the ground. > > > > . for the advanced player (this is a playground remember) some metric > > polyhedra with one metre edges, but I suggest that you don't start with an > > icosahedron. > > > > I have to be honest and tell you that this is a long held � but never > > completed � project. The nearest I got was when I constructed a model of > the > > solar system that had the same scale vertically as it had horizontally � > it > > was just under 600 metres long! > > > > Cheers, > > > > Pat Naughtin LCAMS > > Geelong, Australia > > > > . > > > > . > > > > on 2002-12-31 06.41, G. Stanley Doore at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: > > > > > Thanks. > > > > > > If we all pitch in to get school systems to teach SI exclusively in > > science > > > and technology classes and courses we will make more progress than > > shooting > > > darts randomly. > > > > > > Schools have very high visibility with kids and parents. SI is the > > > international standard and the common language of measurement in S&T, so > > get > > > schools to teach and use it exclusively in S&T and show and tell why. > The > > > SI standards are published (documented). SI style guides are published. > > > ISO date-time standards are published. These standards are published, > > > approved and agreed on sources so why not use them? It is not often > that > > > such specific and useful materials are accepted, used, useful and > > available > > > worldwide. > > > > > >
