A couple recent education articles, from Syracuse Post-Standard and Wilmington NC Star News...
Nat ----------------------------------------------------- 2003 Post-Standard The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY) October 30, 2003 Thursday Final Edition SECTION: NEIGHBORS EAST; Pg. 17 LENGTH: 575 words HEADLINE: GOING METRIC; EAST SYRACUSE-MINOA HIGH SCHOOL HOSTS MOLE DAY 2003 BYLINE: By Jim McKeever Staff writer BODY: Mole Day 2003 at East Syracuse-Minoa High School was probably, oh, 10 times more fun than the average school day. As part of its efforts to teach and promote the metric system, ES-M each year hosts Mole Day, which has nothing to do with burrowing animals, TV spies or the facial attributes of Cindy Crawford or Marilyn Monroe (although some students sported fake moles of that kind). A mole, in this case, is the scientific term for molecular weight. One mole of a substance contains 6.02 x 10-to-the-23rd-power molecules. That concept, and otherwise thinking in metric units of 10 can be tough to grasp, but ES-M students enjoyed several practical applications during Mole Day festivities after school Oct. 23 - 10/23, that is. Volunteer Pat Button, whose daughter Sally Mitchell is a science teacher at ES-M, held court at one of more than a dozen booths set up in the high school's new gymnasium to show students how the metric system works. Button operated a metric scale, and challenged students to guess how much they weigh in kilograms and how tall they are in centimeters. To guide students before they guessed their weight, Button told them 110 pounds is equal to 50 kilograms. "Women are more weight conscious," she said, pointing out an unscientific advantage to metric. "Any time you can say you're under 100, you feel good." As Button worked the scale, a student rock band started to perform loud and clear across the gym. "Decibels!" Button shouted over the din. "That's metric!" Elsewhere in the gym, student clubs and visitors presided over displays and tables highlighting the metric system. At one display table, Jennifer Novak and Christine Culeton, students at the State University College at Oswego, were more than happy to talk about metric, moles or anything scientific. Novak said Mole Day is a good way to hook students on science when they're at the age when they may feel a little rebellious and think academics aren't important. "If they're interested, you can get them to understand" the relevance of things like science, Novak said. Novak, a senior, became interested early in high school, and now is majoring in biochemistry and forensics at Oswego. Culeton, a junior, is a chemistry major with an eye on becoming a pharmacist. In the new weight room next to the gym, ES-M students took part in a "Pumping Fe" contest, lifting 50 kg, 75 kg, or 100 kg weights. Fe is the chemical symbol for iron, of course. Probably the most convincing evidence of the benefits of the metric system was set up in the hallway outside the gym. ES-M's culinary arts students had made 1,000 molasses cookies and also were cutting and serving a variety of cakes that had been combined to make a large (1 meter by 1 meter) sheet cake. "We use metric scales to measure the ingredients," said junior Brandon Christie as he dished out slices of chocolate marble, plain and cheesecake as fast as he could. Culinary arts teacher Gina Fassinger said it's crucial for her students to know metric. "We're in a global economy now, and I'm preparing my students so they can work anywhere in the world," she said. "A lot of people don't understand how much easier" and more precise it is to use metric. Change is difficult, Fassinger said, which is why the "old guard" in the United States has resisted joining most other developed nations in using the metric system. "Once you know it, it's 100 times easier," she said. GRAPHIC: PHOTO; Frank Ordonez/Staff photographer; TOM TWEEDLE (right), a retired chemistry teacher at Millersport, Ohio, High School, the National Mole of the Year, shows East Syracuse-Minoa High School juniors T.J. Avila (left) and Brandon Wilson how to use a metric chart. Color.; Frank Ordonez/Staff photographer; ATHLETIC TRAINER Mark Powell (left) and Tommy Depasquale, an East Syracuse-Minoa High School senior, play a game at Mole Day at the school. Color. LOAD-DATE: October 31, 2003 ------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2003 Star News Star News (Wilmington NC) November 5, 2003, Wednesday SECTION: Brunswick County Neighbors; Pg. 4 LENGTH: 295 words HEADLINE: 7th-graders measuring their success; South Brunswick program brings arts, math together BYLINE: From staff reports BODY: Seventh-grade students at South Brunswick Middle School are focusing on thematic units through the program "Why Metric," in which all learning areas teach around a common theme. As a way to study the metric system, for instance, students are learning how to do conversions in math class, according to Calvin Evans, who coordinated the thematic unit. In language class, students are learning the meanings of the metric prefixes and will write reflections about the unit. In social studies, students will learn why the metric system has been so slow catching on in the United States. In art class, students are doing metric scale drawings of lab equipment. In science class, the students are reviewing SI measurement by completing an investigation with the purpose of determining if seventh-graders can measure accurately in SI. The activity requires the students to review the scientific method and practice measuring at 13 different stations. In science class, the students will also research the history of measurement and Metric measurement using computers donated to the team by a Progress Energy employee. The team has received a total of 19 computers to do research, create PowerPoint presentations, word process, create data bases, create spreadsheets and do many other things they would not be able to accomplish without the computers. The seventh-grade drama class also performed a skit tracing the history of measurement and metric measurement through history, and students participated in the Metric Olympics designed to integrate physical education and reinforce the teaching of metric measurement. As part of the activity, students estimated how far they could jump and throw, using the proper unit of measurement to estimate. GRAPHIC: Courtesy of South Brunswick Middle School. Will Rainwater of South Brunswick Middle School measures from focal point to vanishing point as part of the metric project. LOAD-DATE: November 6, 2003
