Schools in pre-metric nations have a real problem when metric measures are introduced as the main measurement system – it knocks the stuffing out of their curriculum.
You may recall that some time ago, we discussed the research of Richard P Phelps who reported that metric units saved about twelve months (a full year!) of time from a student's life at school in the USA.
A report in Australia from the Australian Council of Educational research not only supported this but suggested that the time savings figure due to the use of metric units was nearer to 18 months.
The only advantage that I can see with the infiltration of English schoolwork exercises into the Netherlands is that it will take some time for the students to complete – and that this will relieve the pressure from the teacher to devise more creative – and useful – class exercises.
In Australia, many teachers had copious quantities of these types of pointless conversions between metric and nearly-dead measures when Australia went through its metrication process. To these teachers to abandon their stock of old master sheets would mean that new material had to be created. As a result, even after Australia had substantially completed their metrication process, some teachers in some schools were still recycling their old metric conversion work sheets.
I suspect that the teacher who devised the lessons you reported is either an English teacher doing a teacher exchange in the Netherlands or a Dutch teacher who has been working in the UK.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin ASM (NSAA), LCAMS (USMA)*
PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia
Phone 61 3 5241 2008
Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by going to http://www.metricationmatters.com and clicking on 'Newsletter'.
* Pat is an Accredited Speaking Member (ASM) with the National Speakers Association of Australia, and a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association.
P.S. Please let me know if you find out who is responsible for this retrograde material; perhaps I, too, will be moved to write to them!
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia
61 3 5241 2008
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.metricationmatters.com
on 2004-12-07 11.14, Han Maenen at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
It has reallly come that far: now Dutch children may be taught ifp in Duch secondary schools if their teacher picks up certain lessons from the Internet, for instance, and then proceeds to teach them to his pupils! I have found on the Internet this lesson in using graphic converters developed for Dutch secondary schools with metric and British units. At first this mix of problems for conversion:
3 km = ………m 5,2 m2 = …….cm2 1000 cm3 = ….liter 1o C = …..o F
2,5 m = ……..km 100 mm2 = …km2 23 liter = …..cm3 1o C = …..o Kelvin
2300mm = ….km 2 mile2 = …. km2 1 gallon =….liter 3o K = …..o C
1 inch = ……cm 100 m2 = ……ha 12 uur = ……sec 16o F = ….o C
1 ft = ………cm 45 inch2 = ….cm2 3 weken =…….uur 10000 kg = …ton
100 m = …….yard 3 ha = …..km2 15 jaar = …….min 5,23 ton = …kg
23 miles = ……km 22 ft2 = …….m2 13 sec = ….uur 45 km/u = ….m/s
15 inch = ….ft 1 acre = ……m2 780 uur = …. jaar 17,3 m/s = ….k/u
This is not all: then comes this lesson in the form of a story. I will give some of the answers that the lesson expects and those that I would give. I have not done the calculations that are difficult without using a calculator; there I have used the letter x for an ‘answer’. The lesson in Dutch, then the translation in English.
Vul in het volgende verhaal op de stippeltjes de juiste antwoorden in: Bereken alles met de grafische rekenmachine.
Frits heeft een engelse vriend te logeren: Tommy. Frits wil Tommy een stukje typisch nederlands landschap laten zien. Ze gaan daarom een middagje fietsen.
Ze beginnen in Utrecht. Al snel komen ze het eerste bordje tegen: “ Maarssen 5 km. Tommy vraagt “How many miles? Hij krijgt als antwoord:…………
Op de fietsen zit een kilometerteller Ze fietsen rustig, zo’n 15 km/uur.
Dat is………..m/s zegt Frits, die deze omrekening op school regelmatig moet doen. Tommy wil het antwoord graag in yards/s. Dat is ………..y/s.
Ze fietsen langs een groot weiland waarop een bordje “te koop” staat: 50 ha grond voor de prijs van 600.000 gulden. Frits denkt:”dat is een oud bord, de prijs staat er nog in guldens…” .en rekent snel om hoeveel dat in euro’s is:…………….euro.
Tommy wil natuurlijk weten hoe groot de oppervlakte is in acres. Dat rekent Frits uit:……………………….
En de prijs??? Hoeveel engelse ponden is dat??..Engeland doet namelijk niet mee met de euro….Frits die toevallig een krant bij zich heeft ziet dat momenteel voor 1 engelse pond 1,6 euro betaald moet worden. Hij geeft Tommy antwoord:…………………………..
Bij een boerderij staat een grote waterton. Daarop staat de inhoud nog in gallons: 250 gal geeft het etiket aan: Nou dat is ………..liter zegt Frits.
Ze fietsen verder en zien op een groot reclamebord de buitentemperatuur staan: 23 o C. Tommy die natuurkunde een leuk vak vindt, rekent uit: 23 o C is …………….o K en ……………………o F
Ze komen langs een molen waarvan de wieken behoorlijk snel ronddraaien.
Ze kijken op hun horloge: 1 omwenteling duurt 15 s.
Nou de snelheid is dan………………….m/sec zegt Frits en Tommy wil dat uiteraard weer in engelse maten weten: Dat is ……………………yard/sec, en voor de grap rekent hij ook nog uit hoeveel miles per uur dat is:………………
Op een stukje verharde weg worden ze gepasseerd door een vrachtauto waarop staat: maximaal toelaatbaar gewicht is 13 ton. Dat is …………………kg zegt Frits, en Tommy: dat is ……………….lb.
Als ze thuis zijn zien ze op de kilometerteller staan dat ze 23 kilometer hebben gefietst. Tommy kijkt op de zijkant van de fietsband en ziet daar 28 inch op staan. Hij zegt tenslotte: Mijn wiel is dus …………..keer rondgedraaid.
Fill in the gaps in the story; solve the problems with your graphic calculator.
An English friend is staying with Frits: his name is Tommy. Frits wants to show the typical Dutch countryside to his guest. They are going to make a trip by bike. They start in the city of Utrecht. Soon they see the first sign. “Maarssen 5 km”. Tommy asks: How many miles is that?
The answer is 3 miles (the expected answer): “I do not know, we do not use British units in this country” is in fact the right answer.
Then they pass a large meadow with a sign that states that 50 ha of land to be sold for 600.000 guilders. Frits thinks: “ That must be an old sign”, then he converts it quickly to euro (I use the factor 2 here): 300 000 euro.
Tommy of course, wants to know the area in acres. Frits converts it: 125 acres.
Frits also converts to price in euros in pounds for Tommy.
The really correct answer is again: “We use the metric system and the euro here. We have not learned British units at school. Why not try to learn something while you are here?”
A large barrel stands near a farm; it has its contents stated in gallons: 250 gal. Frits says: That is xxxx litres (that of course, depends of whether that barrel was made in the UK or the USA).
They continue and see the temperature on a larg public thermometer: 23 degrees C. Tommy likes physics. “ That is 296 K and 74 degrees F. The real correct answer should be: “Why should Dutch people have to struggle with the Fahrenheit scale?”
They pass a working wind mill and look at their watches: one revolution takes 15 s. The speed is xxxx m/s. Tommy, of course wants to have that in Imperial. That is xxxx y/s, says Frits. And then he converts the y/s to mph: xxxx mph.
Again: Frits should not convert for Tommy.
A truck overtakes them which shows its maximum allowed weight: 13 (metric) tons. “That is 13 000 kg” says Frits, Tommy: that is 27 000 lb (roughly).
Tommy might have found out how easy it is to convert metric tons to kilograms, as compared to converting long tons to pounds.
When they are at home again, the odometers on their bikes show that they have covered 23 km. Tommy sees that the tire displays a size of 28”. He says: My wheel turned xxxx times.
These inch sizes for bicyce tires are condemned for the future. An international metric standard is slowly replacing them. This inch standard is really stupid: a 27” wheel has a larger diameter than a 28” wheel!!!
This lesson is wrong on several counts:
1. Most important: in metric countries ifp units should only be tought in courses for specialists who need to use them in their work (pilots, for instance). Here they are taught in a Dutch secondary school!
2. This lesson conveys the message that if Dutch people meet people from English speaking countries in The Netherlands, they should convert metric units to ifp if the English speaking person asks for such conversion.
3. If Tommy does not like the way of life in his host country, he should take the first ship, plane or Channel-train out instead of asking his host to convert metric units for him. He should do it himself, or familiarize himself with the metric system.
4. British young people are taught metric at school, although many forget it after leaving school, because they live in an environment that is still largely Imperial.
5. The symbol for the unit of time, the second was wrong: it was 'sec.' in that lesson. I have corrected it to
s; the symbol for the kelvin was also wrong: it had the degree sign before the K.
I have to find out those who made up this lesson and to show them the grave error of their ways in a polite manner. That our children should be conditioned to always and instantly convert units for people from the UK or the USA who are guests in metric countries is $+&@%&[EMAIL PROTECTED]@!!!!!!
