Last night, I stumbled upon an animated educational video meant to teach young children about measurement. Although it praises the metric system for its simplicity and ease of use, it gets several facts wrong, sidesteps the inferiority of customary units by saying "it's too hard to learn a new system" and, ultimately, is a detriment to metrication.
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/math/measurement/units-of-measurement.htm I've transcribed the audio of the main characters, RJ and Mia, for those not wishing to watch the video (it made me cringe), below. --- Title card: UNITS OF MEASUREMENT RJ: Can you believe my soccer team’s going to Italy? Mia: You are so lucky! RJ: Yeah, but I gotta figure out what to bring. I don’t even know what the weather’s like there. Mia: Hold on; I’ll check it for ya. RJ: Great! Thanks! Mia: Oh my gosh! It’s freezing in Italy. The high’s only 24! RJ: **laughs** Mia! That temperature’s in Celsius. Click the American flag. Mia: 75, now that sounds better. RJ: To you maybe, because it’s in Fahrenheit, the way we measure temperature. But Celsius is how temperature’s measured in Italy. Mia: How come we measure things differently? RJ: It turns out that there have been lots of measurement systems. For example, Ancient Egyptians used their bodies to measure things. Mia: No way! RJ: Yep! They measured with cubits, the length of the arm from your elbow to the tip of your finger. Mia: Handy! RJ: And would you believe the English measured weights with stones and liquids by the pailful? Mia: But, how could that work? People are all different sizes, and I bet they used different sized stones and pails. RJ: They did! Measurements were all over the place until the English set up a system of standard units that made all measurements consistent. Mia: You mean they decided exactly how long an inch would be? RJ: And a foot, a yard, and a mile, too. All of the units used to measure length. Mia: Did they set standards for weight, too? RJ: Yep! For weight they used ounces, pounds, and tons. And for liquid capacity, they used fluid ounces, cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. Mia: Now that was a good idea! RJ: We still use these standards in the US; it’s called the Customary System of Measurement. Mia: Hey! We left out Fahrenheit for measuring temperature! RJ: Good catch! Mia: Why does Italy use different measurements? RJ: Well, these days, there are two major systems of measurement: the customary system in the US and Britain—and the metric system in the rest of the world. Mia: I know about the metric system. We use it in science class! RJ: Scientists everywhere use the metric system because it’s simpler and more organized. Mia: How? RJ: There are only a few basic units: metres for length, grams for weight, and litres for capacity. Oh, and Celsius for temperature. Everything’s divided into units of ten! Kilometres and hectometers *[pronounced “hec-tom-etres”]*, centigrams, milligrams, and– Mia: I get it! Decilitres, centilitres. RJ: Metric is easy to work with because it’s in units of ten! Much easier than changing inches into feet or yards, or pints and cups into quarts. Mia: Sounds pretty good! But I think it’d be hard to learn a whole new system. RJ: I guess that’s why we still use the customary system in the US. Mia: Now, let’s see if I’ve got it. There are two systems of measurement: the customary system and the metric system, and they use different units to measure things. For length, the customary system uses inches, feet, yards, and miles, and the metric system uses variations on the metre. For weight, the customary system uses ounces and pounds, and the metric system uses grams and kilograms. For capacity, the customary system uses liquid ounces, cups, pints, quarts, and gallons, and the metric system uses litres and millilitres. And, for temperature, it’s Fahrenheit versus Celsius. RJ: That’s it! Mia: Umm, RJ, speaking of measurement, you’re never going to have enough space to get all that stuff into one tiny suitcase. *They both laugh.* * * * * *Zach Rodriguez* *http://twitter.com/nativetexanzach*
