Hey, it’s almost that time of the year again, 10/10 or October 10th, National Metric Day. Did you know that this is an actual nationally recognized day and week to encourage the use of the Metric system, used by all other countries of the world except the U.S?
The advantage of using the Metric system is that you can convert between units of measurement just by dividing or multiplying by units of ten, So to convert meters (which is about a yard) to centimeters (2.5 cm per inch) you merely need to multiply by 100 by moving the decimal point two places to the right, whereas to convert yards to inches you need to multiply by 3 and then 12.
It’s much easier and faster to use the Metric system. It’s why American kids don’t score so high in math compared to kids from other countries. We make it harder for our kids to solve problems because they use the old-fashioned inch-pound system that we got from England before they switched to the Metric system.
Scientists use the Metric system, the medical profession uses the Metric system and computerized AI does too. In addition to being able to convert between units of measurement easily like Kilometers to Meters, which is a linear measurement, in the Metric system one milliliter of water, which is the same as one cubic centimeter, a unit of length cubed, weighs one Gram, a unit of weight. In other words, in the Metric system there is a direct relationship between length, volume, and weight. The inch-pound system we use in the U.S. doesn’t have this relationship, which makes it more difficult to convert length to volume to weight.
Why do we put our kids at a disadvantage in math and science? Are we just too lazy to change?
Let’s celebrate National Metric Day on Thursday, October 10th by encouraging the use of the Metric system in our schools and in our dealings with the rest of the world.
The United Nations uses the Metric system and most persons there speak Globish, a simplified form of English. Think how much more fun and rewarding it could be to communicate easily with our neighbors.
Ken Embers
Former Math teacher at the American Institute of Baking and USD 383 substitute teacher