Visualizing the Metric System

By Mrs. Kell / Elmwood Academic Facilitator

Scientists all over the world use the International System of Units to measure: • Length• Volume• Mass• Density• Temperature• Time

What is length? • Length is the distance from one

point to another

The basic unit of length in the metric system is the meter.

The two units that measure the length of smaller objects are, …

• millimeter

• centimeter

A unit that measures the length of larger objects are….

• kilometers

A meter is about the height from the floor to the knob on a door.

A centimeter is about the width of your fingernail.

A millimeter is about the thickness of a dime.

1 kilometer is about the combined length of 9 football

fields.

• Question: About how many centimeters is the width

of your paper?

Complete the Table Below

Prefix Meaning Unit of Length

milli

one-hundredth

meter

one-thousand

Complete the Table Below

Prefix Meaning Unit of Length

milli One-thousandth

one-hundredth

meter

one-thousand

Complete the Table Below

Prefix Meaning Unit of Length

milli One-thousandth

millimeter

one-hundredth

meter

one-thousand

Complete the Table Below

Prefix Meaning Unit of Length

milli One-thousandth

millimeter

centi one-hundredth

meter

one-thousand

Complete the Table Below

Prefix Meaning Unit of Length

milli One-thousandth

millimeter

centi one-hundredth centimeter

meter

one-thousand

Complete the Table Below

Prefix Meaning Unit of Length

milli One-thousandth

millimeter

centi one-hundredth centimeter

none meter

one-thousand

Complete the Table Below

Prefix Meaning Unit of Length

milli One-thousandth

millimeter

centi one-hundredth centimeter

none one meter

one-thousand

Complete the Table Below

Prefix Meaning Unit of Length

milli One-thousandth

millimeter

centi one-hundredth centimeter

none one meter

kilo one-thousand

Complete the Table Below

Prefix Meaning Unit of Length

milli One-thousandth

millimeter

centi one-hundredth centimeter

none one meter

kilo one-thousand kilometer

Length

Reading a metric ruler…..

The longer lines on the metric ruler are called… • centimeters

The shorter lines on the metric ruler are called…• millimeters

One centimeter is divided into how many millimeters? • 10

millimeters (mm)

Calculating: Measure the turtle in figure 2 from the rear of its shell to the tip of its nose. Record its length in both centimeters and millimeters. • 10.5 cm

• 105 mm

Volume

Volume

• The amount of space an object takes up

Volume

Volume of Liquids

When measuring the volume of a liquid, scientists use a unit known as the… • Liter (L).

To measure the volume of smaller liquids, the _________ is used. • Milliliter (mL)

Larger liquids are measured in kiloliters.

A liter is the size of a coke bottle.

1 milliliter equals 1/1000 of a liter…

In other words it would take about 1,000 die to fill up a liter bottle….

1,000 of these =

A kiloliter is equivalent to 8 large trash cans.

The instrument used to measure the volume of liquids is called the…

• Graduated cylinder.

This instrument has markings that are in increments of…• 1 milliliter (mL)

Common Conversions For Volume

1 L =

= 1,000 cm³

1 mL =

Common Conversions For Volume

1 L = 1,000 mL

= 1,000 cm³

1 mL =

Common Conversions For Volume

1 L = 1,000 mL

1 L = 1,000 cm³

1 mL =

Common Conversions For Volume

1 L = 1,000 mL

1 L = 1,000 cm³

1 mL = 1 cm³

The metric unit known for measuring solids with a larger volume is known as the… • Cubic meter (m³).

The formula for calculating the volume of a rectangular object is:

Volume = Length x Width x Height

Why is the unit cm³ used when calculating the volume of a rectangular object?

• When multiplying the object’s length, width and height, the cm units are also multiplied

cm x cm x cm = cm³

Suppose a cereal box is 10 centimeters long, 4 centimeters wide, and 20 centimeters high. What would be the volume of the box?

Volume = Length x Width x Height

Volume = 10 cm x 4 cm x 20 cm

Volume = 800 cm³

Mass

Mass• The measure of the amount of

matter an object contains

• Matter: The material that all objects and substances are made up of

• Anything that has mass and takes up space is matter

A balance is used to measure mass.

Pan Riders Beams Pointer

Mass

Units of Mass

The gram (g) is the basic metric unit of mass. Two

other metric units of mass are:milligram (mg)kilogram (kg)

A smaller object’s mass such as a paper clip would be measured in milligrams.

A gram is about the mass of a jelly bean

A kilogram is about the mass of a baseball bat.

Conversions

1 kg = g

1 g = mg

Conversions

1 kg = 1,000 g

1 g = mg

Conversions

1 kg = 1,000 g

1 g = 1,000 mg