Instructify

When I was a lad, I hated when math story problems used metric units. Sure, the rest of the world is able to adequately measure stuff despite using the metric system, but I prefer good old American units like inches, pounds, or Fahrenheit. Like Grampa Simpson said, “The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that’s the way I likes it!”

At some point, however, your students will need at least a cursory understanding of base-10 measurement, whether they plan to be scientists or mathematicians, or if they just want to take a drive through Canada. Next time your lesson plan calls for them to go metric, let your students know about the World Wide Metric Conversion Calculator. This site will take your miles and ounces and convert them to kilometers and grams. It can even change them back, with no ill effects from the transformation.

Maybe World Wide Metric will make your students more trusting of the metric system than I was growing up. They may end up liking the metric system enough that they start using metric time. -BILL FERRIS

World Wide Metric Conversion Calculator

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