The real problem here is that this student was not exposed to the Metric System in fourth grade, or fifth grade or sixth grade or basically not any time in any significant way until she got to nursing school. There the emphasis was on conversion. Of course she is confused. This does not happen in metric countries. The Metric System is not a conversion, but a complete system which, when used by itself, is extremely easy. We clearly need much more metric education in our middle schools and high schools, so students will learn to "think metric" and not think of the Metric System as something that needs to be converted from or to. Ninety six percent of doctors and nurses around the world use the Metric System only, with no use of inch-pound units at all. Body mass index is much easier in the Metric System, just take your mass in kilograms and divide by your height in meters squared. No conversions necessary. And for temperature, remember the poem : "30 is hot, 20 is nice, 10 wear a coat, 0 is ice". Much easier than all that multiplying, dividing, adding and subtracting from Fahrenheit.
----- Original Message -----
From: [email protected]
Date: Saturday, September 7, 2013 6:35 pm
Subject: [USMA:53229] "Math Conversion-Metric System Help!," Cries a Nursing Student
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
> Stories like this confirm why we need to do a much better job in
> bring up
> children/students metrically. The ignorance exhibited
> here, especially in
> preparing for a field, medicine, that is metricated, is astonishing.
>
> Read it at:
> allnurses.com/pre-nursing-student/math-conversion-metric-831231.html
>
> Paul Trusten may have some observations.
>
