Article 9 "Learning Connections The Power of 10S"

I found Joanne Barrett's article both amusing and informative. Amusing because I, too, teach my seventh graders about the metric system at the beginning of each year for my Life Science class.  They are amazed that the United States is the only major nation in the world to still use its antiquated English measurements. They enjoy using the meter sticks, and liter beakers, etc, but I feel that unless something major happens in our education system, we will never join the rest of the world and use the metric system.  I found her idea of Metric Day and the activities informative.  I usually have various lab stations set up involving different measurements and activities involving comparisons of our English system to the Metric. The marshmallow toss and scavenger hunt will definitely be part of my metric unit next year as they provide more tangible activities.  In addition, I will be showing the original version of "The Powers of Ten"--should be fascinating!   This unit will cover student ISTE standards 2,5 and 6.  The more we expose children at younger ages to the Metric System, perhaps we can have a chance of changing over by the mid-century.