Michael
Are you children able to answer the following question: Jack is 5 ft 2 in tall Mary is 4 ft 8 in tall Fred is 4 ft 11 n tall Ann is 5ft 0 in tall Mike is 4 ft 8 in tall What is their average height (Calculators may be used)? _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Payne Sent: 17 May 2009 16:58 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:45076] Two sytems. I picked up a scrap of paper on the street outside my home the other day, probably blew out of the garbage truck. Anyway it was a sheet filled in by an elementary age school kids on measurement. Shows how US kids have to learn 2 systems and don't know either one. Picture of Rake. a. Longer than 1 foot b. About 1 foot c. longer than 1 foot They got this one right. Picture of single Carrot a. lighter than 1 kilogram b. About 1 kilogram c. Heavier than 1 kilogram They marked about 1 kilogram. How is a kid in the US going to know how much a kilogram is? The interesting question to me was a picture of a green bean with an inch ruler marked in inches only with 3 graduations in between (for 1/4, 1/2 & 3/4 inches). The question was how many inches is the bean? To me it was 3-3/4 inches. The kid marked down 3.3. The teacher put down 3.5 (in red) crossed that out and put 4. Kids see calculators, they count the graduations and that becomes a decimal, hence 3.3. This is a good example of how and why the US does so poorly in math and science when compared to other nations. I think I'll make a copy of the sheet and attach. Apologies for one side being upside down. You can have Adobe rotate it but it does the whole document. I'll also send it to my legislators. If everyone on this list sent this to their Congressional Representative, we might make a difference! Mike Payne
