Metric Mania

A Stand Alone Lesson on Metric Prefixes

What unit would you use to measure the height of this skyscraper?

Choose one:

Millimeter (mm) Centimeter (cm) Meter (m) Kilometer (km)

Remember:

Millimeters are tiny, and you measure small things with them.

I’m only 5 millimeters long!

5 mm

Remember:

Centimeters are small, and you measure small things with them.

5 cm

I’m only 5 centimeters, but

I’m getting bigger!

Excellent!

The height of most structures are measured in meters!

                           

449 m

MSU

Traverse City

Getting close!

But most structures are measured with units that are smaller than a kilometer.

240 km

BUT WAIT!!!

What if you wanted to know how many centimeters tall a skyscraper was… How would you convert from km to cm???

449 m

First, let me ask you a question…

Look at the end of this meter stick.

How many millimeters are in a centimeter?

Choose one…

1mm = 1cm 5 mm = 1cm 10 mm = 1cm 100 mm = 1cm

A millimeter is not equal to a centimeter.

Try looking at the meter stick again and see if you can count how many millimeter hash-marks there are in a centimeter

Keep counting…

There are more than 5 millimeter hash-marks in 1 centimeter.

CORRECT!!!

As you can see, there are 10 little millimeter hash-marks within one centimeter.

So 10 mm = 1 cm !

Incorrect.

Go back to the meter stick and try counting how many millimeter hash-marks there are in 1 centimeter.

A meter stick is exactly one meter in length.

How many centimeters do you think are on a meter stick?

Hint: How many cents are in one dollar?.?.?

Choose one:

10 cm = 1m 100 cm = 1m 1000 cm = 1m

10 cm = 1m is incorrect.

Remember that you learned a meter is about three feet in length.

If 10 cm = 1m then a meter would only be about 2 mice long!

5 cm

Incorrect…

Think about the HINT: There are one hundred cents in a dollar so how many centimeters do you think are in a meter stick?

Correct!

There are 100 centimeters in 1 meter.

Just like there are 100 cents in 1 dollar.

But how can we easily convert from one metric unit to another metric unit with out always having to count pennies or hash marks?

Tell me…

If all the prefixes in the metric system were arranged on a staircase, would it help you solve this dilemma?

meter

gram

liter

etc…

These are the abbreviations for the metric units of length.

meter

gram

liter

etc…

If you were on this staircase at a meter and you wanted to go to centimeters, how many steps would you have to take?

Choose one:

2 steps to the right 2 steps to the left

You are here

This is a hectometer

Incorrect.

By stepping to the left you have made your way to a hectometer.

You want to go to a centimeter. Go back and try again.

Great Job!

You moved two spots to the right and arrived at the centimeter step.

This is a centimeter

Let’s try another…

If you want to move from a millimeter to a kilometer how many steps would you have to take?

Choose one…

Two spots left Two spots right Six spots left Six spots right

You have taken two steps to the left and only made it to a decimeter. You need continue to step to the top of the staircase.

Go back and try again…

If you step to the right you will be going the wrong direction. Remember, you want to go up to the kilometer.

Go back and try again…

Excellent Work!

You took six steps to the left and made it to a kilometer!

You have just learned how to use the metric staircase to convert from one metric unit to another.

Click the next button to see what I mean.

With regards to converting from one metric unit to another it is simply a case of moving the decimal…

The hard question is:

In which direction, and how many spaces?

2789064.948

But guess what…?

You have already figured that out!

If I asked you to convert from 2789064.948 mm km, you could use the metric staircase to see what direction and for how many spaces you need to move the decimal.

So, how many km is 2789064.948 mm?

Choose one…

27.89064948 km 2.789064948 km 27890649.48 km

27.89064948 km is incorrect, you only moved five spaces to the left.

To go from millimeters to kilometers you have to move six spaces to the left.

2.789064948 km is Correct! You moved the decimal six spaces to the left.

You move the decimal in the number the same direction and number of spaces you would move on the staircase to get from

one unit to the next. 2.789064948 km

2789064.948 km is incorrect, you moved one space to the right.

To go from millimeters to kilometers you have to move six spaces to the left. Try again.

Let’s try another…

How many centimeters are in 4.670000 km?

Choose one…

46700.00 cm 46.70000 cm 467000.0 cm

46700.00 cm is incorrect. You only moved the decimal to the right four spaces.

This would give you and answer of 46700.00 decimeters. Remember, you want to go to centimeters. Try again.

46.70000 cm is incorrect. You only moved the decimal to the right one space.

This would give you and answer of 46.70000 hectometers. Remember, you want to go to centimeters. Try again.

467000.0 cm is CORRECT! You moved the decimal to the right five spaces.

This would give you and answer of 467000.0 centimeters.

Great Work!!!

You now know how to use the metric staircase to convert from one metric unit to another metric unit!

You worked hard and learned well. Now go off into the world and find some magnificent metric measurements to convert!