About Meters. About Liters. About the Thermometer. About Grams. About the MetricSystem by Alma GilleoReview by: Joan KirkpatrickThe Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 25, No. 3 (December 1977), p. 35Published by: National Council of Teachers of MathematicsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41190322 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 12:54

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Arithmetic Teacher.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 91.229.248.139 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 12:54:53 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

surements, weighing vegetables, experimenting outdoors, or using metric recipes. Estimation and graphing experiences are incorporated into many of the activities. The cartoon format should ap- peal to students of all ages.

The teacher could well choose to build an en- tire measurement unit around these activities or could use them independently at any point in the curriculum. The pages are easily removed from the book for duplication.

Although the materials are ungraded, some are more appropriate for younger children than oth- ers. The activities involving scale drawings and some of those involving volume and capacity may not be appropriate for students of all ages.

This reviewer was disappointed to find that the second activity on area involved the formula A - I X w, and the first on volume involved the for- mula V = I X w X d. These formal notions are specific to particular situations and are better left until the student has developed more intuitive ideas concerning area and volume. Some ex- cellent activities for such development, particu- larly on area, are included in the book.

Overall, the book contains many valuable ac- tivities which should assist the teacher and be a delight for the student. - Dale Drost, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Metrics for Beginners, 8 full-color post- ers. 1976, $4.95. The Instructor Publications, Dansuille, NY 14437. T, S,*

This set of eight color posters illustrates nine metric units - kilometre, metre, decimetre, centi- metre, millimetre, gram, kilogram, litre, and de- grees Celsius. An object common in the child's environment is used to provide a physical refer- ent for each unit; then other objects that would likely be measured with that unit are pictured. A teacher's guide, included with the posters, pro- vides a sound philosophy for teaching measure- ment, some general activities for teaching the metric system, and detailed suggestions for the optimal use of the posters.

The posters, which measure 39.5 cm by 58.5 cm, are folded in half for packaging purposes. The pronounced fold seriously detracts from four of the eight posters. In spite of this, these posters are still a valuable teaching aid for grades one through four or five. - W. George Cathcart, Uni- versity of Alberta.

The Wiley Metric Guide. P. J. O'Neill. 1976, xvi + 168 pp., $6.95. John Wiley and Sons, 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10016. A, T, L, *

The author brings to this book five years of expe- rience as a member of the technical secretariat of the Australian Metric Conversion Board. Thus he is fully cognizant of the ramifications inherent in adopting SI. The strength and weakness of the book are directly traceable to the author's back- ground: most of the book (approximately 80 per- cent of it) deals with the Australian experience at metrication.

In considering the use of metric units of length, the author spends twenty-three of twenty-nine pages in the chapter on length discussing prob- lems and conventions in adopting SI for length measurement in building materials, rainfall, road signs, textiles, body measurements, sporting events, ship draught markings, flying, advertis-

ing, printing, rope and cordage, sheet metal, wire, drills, timber, surveying, builders hardware, and general hardware. Some of the information is encyclopedic in nature, but it does give a realis- tic and "nuts and bolts" flavor to the book. At the same time, the detailing of the Australian experience (giving dates for expected conversion of particular products, detailing some of the gov- ernment legislation) makes the book less relevant to North America than it might otherwise have been. However, until the United States is farther along the metric road, reliance must be placed on Australian, Canadian, or British publications for first-hand metrication experiences that provide the nitty-gritty of conversion rather than the arm-chair view.

The author's knowledge of SI appears to be omnibus. His treatment of SI is done in the man- ner of international cooperation, and his book is written in accordance with SI terminology, sym- bolization, and convention. Readers will not pick up bad habits and sloppy notation in reading this book, which is more than can be said for many publications in the area.

The strength of the book is its detailing of the use of SI in commercial, consumer, and personal contexts. The hundreds of examples discussed give a good idea of what metrication can mean in a nation well on the road to conversion.

The book would serve well as a teacher refer- ence or as a library reference for students in grades six and up. - Daiyo Sawada, University of A Iberta.

About Meters. About Liters. About the Thermometer. About Grams. About the Metric System. Alma Gilleo. 1977, 32 pp. ea., $4.95 ea. The Child's World, 1556 Weatherstone Lane, Elgin, IL 60120. S, *

This series of five hardcover books is designed for use by primary children. The setting for each book is the "Metric Circus" and features Hobo the clown who guides children through the circus as he introduces the basic measuring units in each book. In the final book, About the Metric System, Jake, the lion tamer, conducts a review of the other four books and an overview of the entire metric system.

The books are written in story form and can be read by children from grade two on. The many colorful, attractive illustrations not only follow the story line, but also help to develop the con- cepts and show how to do the measuring "experi- ments" suggested in each book.

The first four books each begin with Hobo introducing the basic concepts of the measure- ment involved. This is followed by some work with nonstandard units in the liter and meter books, and some comparisons (heavier/lighter, warmer/colder) in the gram and temperature books. The standard unit is then carefully in- troduced, and Hobo and his circus friends de- scribe several simple experiments that the child reading the book is encouraged to duplicate. Sug- gestions are then given for the child to extend the experiment or measuring activity. The suggested activities involve familiar objects and relatively easily obtainable materials. The final book gives a short history of how measuring units developed and changed, and reviews the metric units devel- oped in the previous four books.

It was disappointing that the interrelationships between meter, liter, and gram were not in- troduced in the final book. However, the illustra- tions, the easy-to-read aspect, and the fact that children are encouraged to do their own measur- ing activities make this series highly attractive. Children should enjoy both the stories and the activities. - J. K.

Practice in Metrics for Beginners. Jean Peterson. 1977, 20 duplicating masters, $4.25. Instructor Curriculum Materials, Instructor Park, Dansville, NY 14437. S

Practice in Metrics for Beginners consists of twenty duplicating masters, designed primarily for primary-grade children who are being in- troduced to both measurement concepts and the metric system. They could, however, be used with older children or slow learners. The major objec- tives are to help children learn the names and symbols for common metric units, visualize their sizes, and recognize proper uses for each. Of the twenty worksheets, two deal with nonstandard measurement, eight with length, five with mass, two with volume, two with temperature, and one with overall review. These worksheets are activ- ity-oriented and are intended to complement ma- nipulative activities. Premeasurement processes should be carefully developed prior to their use. For each type of measurement, many experiences with real objects are essential. These should in- clude activities where estimation precedes actual measurement. Each worksheet contains instruc- tions for its use, but teacher-direction will be required for clarification in most instances. Gen- eral and specific suggestions for using the masters are provided on the inside front and back covers of the book. - Marie Hauk, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.

Metrics All Around. Jean Gize and Carla Hovey. 1977, 56 pp., $3.95. Activity Resources Company, P.O. Box 4875, Hay ward, CA 94540.

T, ?

Metrics All Around is a booklet designed for teachers to use in teaching certain aspects of the metric system; namely, length, area, mass, and volume. The booklet, which is designed for use in grades one through nine, consists of general les- sons, which are addressed to teachers, as well as activities and worksheets intended for student use. Permission to reproduce a classroom set of the worksheets has been given by the publisher. According to the authors, the teaching strategy employed in each unit consists of three stages, "making direct comparison between objects," "comparing an object with a nonstandard unit." and "comparing an object with a standard unit." The format of the booklet will appeal to many students, particularly the younger ones. The en- tire text has been hand-printed rather than typed or typeset, giving it a rather attractive appear- ance. In addition, the many illustrations add to the attractiveness of the pages. Older students might enjoy the recipes with metric quantities, especially the one for something called "Metric Fudge."

Errors in grammar and punctuation are sprinkled throughout the text, thereby detracting from its value. The booklet has a "Table of Con- tent," not Contents. On page 13, "The recorder

December 1977 35

This content downloaded from 91.229.248.139 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 12:54:53 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions