USING THE SCIENCE OF COMPUTATION

AGRISCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

Modified by Georgia Agricultural Education Curriculum Office

July, 2002

AREAS OF COMPUTATION IN AGRISCIENCE

• MEASUREMENT : Involves determining the number of units in something; a foot is 12 inches long or a bushel of shelled corn is always 56 pounds.

• MATHEMATICS : Involves the use of numbers and symbols to show relationships.

• Made up of two areas- skills and applications

WHY STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT ?

• Buyers and sellers must have the same standard when trading.

• Persons mixing chemicals need to use the same standard that is given in the mixing instructions.

• People who make products need to use the same standards.

MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS

• CUSTOMARY SYSTEM -Inch, foot, yard, mile, ounce, pound, quart, pint, gallon and acre are examples.

• METRIC SYSTEM - Grams, meters, liters are examples. Based on decimal system that increases or decreases by numbers by 10s. Uses prefix (“centi”) to meter to form centimeter (1/100 of a meter)

LINEAR MEASUREMENT

• IT IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO POINTS.

• EXAMPLES :

• 1 FOOT = 12 INCHES

• 1 YARD = 3 FEET OR 36 INCHES

• 1 MILE = 5,280 FEET

AREA

• IT IS THE MEASUREMENT OF SURFACES

• EXAMPLES :

• LAND

• FLOOR SPACE IN A GREENHOUSE

• REPORTED IN SQUARE FEET OR SQUARE METERS

VOLUME

• IT IS THE TOTAL SIZE OF AN OBJECT.

• IT IS THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF SPACE SOMETHING TAKES OR HOLDS.

• RECORDED IN CUBIC FEET OR CUBIC METERS

WEIGHT

• WEIGHT IS THE HEAVINESS OF SOMETHING; RELATED TO GRAVITY WHICH IS THE PULL OF THE EARTH.

• MEASURED IN POUNDS OR MASS IN KILOGRAMS

TEMPERATURE

• REFERS TO HOW HOT OR COLD SOMETHING IS; MEASURED WITH A THEROMETER.

• FAHRENHEIT SCALE : WATER BOILS AT 212 AND FREEZES AT 32.

• CELSIUS SCALE : WATER BOILS AT 100 AND FREEZES AT 0.

TIME

• EACH DAY IS COMPRISED OF 24 HOURS, EACH HOUR IS MADE UP OF 60 MINUTES AND EACH MINUTE OF 60 SECONDS.

• BASED ON THE ROTATION OF THE EARTH

INSTRUMENTS USED IN LINEAR MEASUREMENTS

• MEASURING STICKS

• TAPE MEASURES

• CHAINS

• CALIPERS

• REMOTE MEASUREMENT

• THICKNESS GAUGE

WAYS THAT LINEAR MEASUREMENT IS USED

• MARKETING

• PLANTING RATES

• CHEMICAL USE

• LAND MEASUREMENTS

AGRISCIENTISTS USE FIVE SHAPES

• SQUARE: AREA=L X W

• RECTANGLE : A = L X W

• TRIANGLE : A = B X H DIVIDED BY 2

• TRAPEZOID : A = B + B DIVIDED BY 2 X H

• CIRCLE : R SQUARED X 3.14

LAND AREA

• CUSTOMARY UNIT IS THE ACRE

• ONE ACRE IS : APPROXIMATELY 210 FT BY 210 FT. OR 43,560 SQ. FT.

• METRIC UNIT IS THE HECTARE

• A HECTARE IS 2.47 ACRES OR 107,639 SQ. FT.

VOLUME

• VOLUME IS THE AMOUNT OF SPACE SOMETHING OCCUPIES.

• MEASURED IN TWO WAYS - CUBIC UNITS (CUBIC CENTIMETERS SUCH AS ANIMAL MEDICINE) AND STANDARDIZED CONTAINERS (GALLONS OF MILK)

FORMULA’S FOR DETERMINING VOLUME

• SQUARE : V = L x W x H

• CYLINDRICAL CONTAINERS : V = R SQUARED x 3.14 x HEIGHT

• CONICAL CONTAINERS : V = R SQUARED x 3.14 x HEIGHT DIVIDED BY 3

• IRREGULAR - SHAPED : V = B + B DIVIDED BY 2 x L x H

KINDS OF CUSTOMARY WEIGHTS

• AVOIRDUPOIS : Based on the pound ; most widely used

• TROY : Based on the pound weighting 12 ounces.

• APOTHECARY : Used in weighing medical drugs

TYPES OF WEIGHING MACHINES

• BALANCE SCALE

• MECHANICAL SCALE

• ELECTRONIC SCALE

• IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT MOST AGRISCIENCE LABS USE THE METRIC SYSTEM AND LINEAR MEASUREMENTS NEED TO BE CONVERTED.

WAYS OF SELLING TIMBER

• BOARD FOOT : A piece of wood one foot square and one inch thick.

• CORD : Pulpwood or firewood is usually sold this way. A stack 4 feet wide by 4 feet high by 8 feet long or 128 cubic feet is one cord

• A cord of wood also weighs 5300 lbs.