"Converting" is the wrong term. Who wants to be "converted"?
As said many times, we (i.e. everybody in the world) are PHASING-IN the SI units. Stan J. On Thu, Nov 25, 2021 at 6:40 AM Peter Goodyear <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, everyone, > > Here’s an opinion piece published in the Idaho Times-Reporter, 2021-10-31. > Written by Alexie Menafee, who is in grade 8 at the Indian Valley Middle > School, Enon, Ohio. > > Best wishes, > > Peter Goodyear, > > Melbourne, Australia > e-mail: [email protected] <[email protected]> > > > From the teen: Confusing customary or meaningful metrics? > > In physical science class we had to debate over what we think of > converting to the metric system and that really got me thinking. Is the > customary system really benefiting the US? > > There are many reasons for people to still want to use customary but all > of those can be debunked. Some examples my peers gave are that people are > already accustomed to the customary system, it would be very costly to > change, and it’s already printed on all the products. Overall, even though > those are valid points they can easily be proven wrong. > > People may be used to the customary system but the metric transition > shouldn’t be difficult. To begin, in most schools it is already taught in > math and science classes, so getting rid of the customary system would > actually just cut down the curriculum and make room for more important > skills. Additionally, it is a lot easier to learn the metric system; with > the customary system there are a lot of confusing conversions and random > numbers, but with the metric system it is consistent with multiplication > and division by 10. Also, for the new generation it would be a lot easier > for them to only have to learn one system. Therefore, people may be > accustomed to it but the switch should be easy. > Even though it’s already printed on all our products that should be an > easy fix. A lot of food products already have the conversion on them, which > means it would be a good place to start. The US could just start having > factories not put on the customary unit, which takes unnecessary time and > money. For the citizens who don’t know the metric system this might seem > confusing but they can just Google it or have someone else help them, this > will make it easy for them to eventually get used to. To sum up, it may be > printed on all our products but it should be an easy fix. > > All in all, it might not be ideal for some but converting to metric would > be the best option. To start, the transition shouldn't be difficult because > it is already taught in school and easy to learn. The US loses money by not > converting because it takes unnecessary time that could be used to make > money. Lastly, the customary system may be printed on all our products but > that’s an easy fix because the metric system is also printed on most > products. Overall,even though the points listed above are valid concerns, > they can easily be debunked. > > *Alexie Menefee participates in the Advanced Reading and Competitive > Writing Course for gifted writers in grade 8 at the Indian Valley Middle > School.* > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > USMA mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma >
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