Confucius said: "If I hear, I will forget, if I see, I will remember, if I do, I will understand". We need to DO metric units, not just READ them.
_____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John M. Steele Sent: 12 August 2011 15:21 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:50961] Swiney named a Kenan Fellow Eighth-grade math teacher gets a fellowship to "shadow" hospital employees and learn practical math used in this setting for incorporation in lesson plans. I like the idea but I'm a bit concerned about "converting to Celsius." They should be learning about measuring in metric, not converting to metric. "Measure in Customary, convert to metric" is a sure way to teach children to loath the metric system. Obviously, we need them to learn to measure in metric. If conversion needs to be taught, let them learn to convert metric to both Imperial and Customary, and all the silly units, gills, drams, scruples, etc. The will learn to hate Customary well enough. :) http://www.yourdailyjournal.com/view/full_story_home/15046956/article-Swiney -named-a-Kenan-Fellow?instance=homesecondary_news_left_column "I noticed that the professionals I worked with commented frequently that they didn't understand why students coming out of school don't understand the metric system," said Swiney. "Our textbooks really focus more on standard units of measurements, but I learned through my work that the students needed more than that." She took note of the ways measurements and conversions were used in the hospital setting and, armed with new information, told her students all about it. "For example, in the classroom we talk about the application of measurements in pediatrics - we pretend to measure babies, weigh them and convert temperatures to Celsius," she said.
