|
I loved your freudian slip: "Don't try to COVERT the
public. Let the kids do it." :-)
I know what you really meant, but what you accidentally said
adds depth to your plan--let the kids *covertly* convert the country to
SI! -- Jason
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 12:08
PM
Subject: [USMA:36660] Re: metric
experience at home
Writing from one jurisdiction is not good.
It must come from throughout the US. What I've tried to do is to show
how is can be done acceptably. Don't try to covert the public. Let
the kids do it.
Regards, Stan doore
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 11:28
AM
Subject: [USMA:36656] Re: metric
experience at home
Somehow I missed that email but good job on that one. Maybe
we can get all 140,000 students and the teachers to write into Congress and
get the FPLA amended and more metric friendly legislation
:).
Mike
On 4/26/06, G Stanley
Doore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
Just a reminder that the Montgomery County
Public School system (MCPS) in Maryland now is teaching and using
the SI exclusively to its 140 000 students in its science courses and
classes. And, the superintendent has told me on a couple of
occasions that he is committed to the SI.
The USMA now has a simplified poster of the
SI UNITS and most of its derivatives. The poster has been well
received by many groups here since its was first distributed last
week.
Regards, Stan Doore
-----
Original Message -----
Sent:
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 10:35 AM
Subject:
[USMA:36654] Re: metric experience at home
I'm glad that she's receptive. I've found many
teachers in my area who were also receptive to teaching SI. If I remember
right SI was introduced for me around fourth grade, but the New York state
public school system taught it well. Unlike the schools out here who just
brush over it and spend around ten minutes on it, the NYS schools had
charts showing meters and temperature in Celsius and the teachers would
have us pace out meters and find millimeters and such on the rulers.
I can still recall the chart they handed us to, it had USC
measures on it in the form of 1 mile=1.6 km=5280 feet and 1 inch=2.54 cm,
but it emphasized SI first.
We even learned the teaspoon was 5 mL
and tabelspoons were 15 mL and cups were 240 mL and to this day I really
have to stop and think before I can tell someone how many fluid ounces are
in a cup :).
The schools out here just teach that metric exists
and these are the main measures (kilogram, liter, etc). They don't even
provide a frame of reference or have students become familiar with it, and
I've heard complaints from many students who get just this passing
familiarity with SI in fourth grade then get into chemistry or other
sciences later on in high school and have to relearn it because it wasn't
properly taught the first time. As I said before the teachers are
generally receptive but the principles of the various districts I've
talked to have a personal hatred of S and refuse to acknowledge its
existence or importance, even insisting the kids run the mile instead of
the 1600m in spite of the fact that all track and field events are metric.
Ah well, one step at a time.
On 4/26/06, Remek
Kocz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
James,
Actually, I did speak to my
son's kindergarten teacher on a tangential matter. Just wanted to
let her know that I was teaching my child metric at home, and that he
will be talking about temperatures in Celsius rather than
Fahrenheit. I assumed that his recent obsession with temperature
was something they were learning at school, but apparently they don't
learn any measurements in kindergarten. In the end, we did have a
good conversation on converting the US to metric, and about the stalled
efforts in the '70's. Needless to say, she was very supportive of
metrication and was sorry to see things fail they way they did 30 years
ago.
Once we're in an elementary school I plan to approach the
teachers about metric. I don't know when the kids start learning
measurements, but it would be good to make a presentation coincide with
a lesson on such topic.
From my experience, seeing metric
applied and/or related to daily life in an exclusive fashion (ie. no
conversions) completely demystifies it. Metric stands alone, and
its advantages become readily apparent.
Remek
On 4/25/06, James
Frysinger <
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Remek,
That
is excellent! Now, how hard would it be for our schools to do that.
Have
you considered asking your son's teacher if she would like for
you to come in
and do something like that in class?
A few
years ago I taught kindergartners the Celsius rhyme ("30 is hot, ...).
And they knew what it was for because we talked about temperature.
I related
that to what they would wear to school, as you did with
your son.
Jim
On Friday 21 April 2006 11:45, Remek Kocz
wrote:
> My 6-year-old has been fascinated by the thermometer
lately, so I took that
> as an opportunity to teach him
Celsius. He wants to know each morning
> which jacket
to put on for school, so depending on how many degrees the
>
thermometer reads, we pick either a winter or a spring
jacket. As it
> happens, we started when the morning
temps were around 0C, and now we're up
> to 10-15C, so it's
really perfect time to give him a very practical sense
> of
reading a thermometer. He already knows that snow won't
stay around if
> the temps are above 0C, and that it's t-shirt
weather when we go around
> 18C. It's a wonderful thing to be
able to teach this to one's kids, and I
> do gain another sense
of appreciation of the sheer elegance of centigrade.
>
>
We're also working on meters, since he started bringing feet from
school.
> Right now it's just kiddie banter like "giants are a
million feet tall,"
> but I may as well head off the USC
pollution early. So, he learned that he
> is a meter
and a quarter tall, that a meter is as long as dad stretching
>
out his arms or as tall as he is to the shoulder. Easy
enough. Then I
> estimated the height of our house at
10 m, the trees in the backyard at 20
> m, and told him that
the clouds are up at 2000 m.
>
> Remek
>
> On
4/21/06, Howard Ressel <
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I called my 13 yr
old son with a favor the other day (home alone on
> > spring
break). Asked him to get a tape measure from my toolbox and
>
> measure the length of a fluorescent bulb so I could get a new one
at
> > lunch. I have several tape measures, one in English,
on in metric and
> > several in dual - he could have taken
any of them. Without me prompting
> > he read me the length
as 300. I said is that millimeters he said yes.
> >
>
> Next I went to the store to find the bulb figuring id be looking
for a
> > 12" long bulb. To my surprise and delight I found
what I needed on the
> > shelf, only one choice. It was
at Home Depot (do not remember the brand)
> > and
it was labeled as 30 cm with no English units.
> >
>
> Al in all a very metrically illuminating experience for the
day.
> >
> > Howard Ressel
> > Project
Design Engineer, Region 4
> > (585)
272-3372
--
James R. Frysinger
Lifetime Certified
Advanced Metrication Specialist
Senior Member, IEEE
http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Office:
Physics
Lab Manager, Lecturer
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
University/College of Charleston
66
George Street
Charleston, SC 29424
843.953.7644 (phone)
843.953.4824
(FAX)
Home:
10 Captiva
Row
Charleston, SC
29407
843.225.0805
|
