Metrics

You can do this!

Units of the metric system meter - length gram - mass liter - capacity

Metric Prefixes kilo hecto deka meter deci centi milli 1,000 100 10 1 0.1

0.01

0.001

Do you see a pattern?

The order is very important.

How can we remember all of this?

Let’s learn a silly saying.

(I made it silly to help you remember it.) This saying will help you remember the order of abbreviations in the metric system.

Ready?

Kiss Hogs Down At Motel Don’t Crush M&Ms

I told you it was silly!

This saying will help you remember the order of abbreviations in the metric system.

km hm dam m dm cm mm

Notice the first letter of the words match the first letter of the metric abbreviations.

K iss H ogs D own A t M otel D on’t C rus h M &M s km hm dam m dm cm mm largest smallest

Do you see how the silly saying helps you remember the order of the prefixes?

K iss H ogs D own A t M otel D on’t C rush M &Ms km hm dam m dm cm mm kilo hecto deka meter deci centi milli 1,000 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001

Let’s talk about meters now.

In the metric system, the meter is the basic unit of length .

man = 1.5 meter length of desk = 1 meter Length of classroom = 8 meters

Name kilo m meter eter deci meter centi meter Abbreviation km m dm Approximate Comparison Length of 9 football fields Half of the height of a door Width of a fist cm milli meter mm Width of your smallest finger Thickness of a dime

Write down the abbreviations in order from greatest to least.

It is easy to do when you remember the silly saying.

Kiss Hogs Down At Motel Don’t Crush M&Ms km hm dam m dm cm mm

1 m = ___ mm km hm dam m dm cm mm Start at m (for meter). Millimeter is 3 places to the right. So all we have to do is move the decimal 3 places to the right. 1

1 0 0 0 I have moved the decimal 3 places to the right. There are 3 empty spaces so I need to add 3 zeros. Moving the decimal 3 places to the right is the same thing as multiplying by 1000.

1 m = ___ km km hm dam m dm cm mm Start at m (for meter). Kilometer is 3 places to the left. So all we have to do is move the decimal 3 places to the left. 1

0 0 1 I have moved the decimal 3 places to the left. There are 2 empty spaces so I need to add 2 zeros. Moving the decimal 3 places to the left is the same thing as dividing by 1000.

Let’s do another problem.

15 hm = ___ cm km hm dam m dm cm mm Start at hm (for hectometer). Centimeter is 4 places to the right. So all we have to do is move the decimal 4 places to the right. 1

1 5 0 0 0 0 I have moved the decimal 4 places to the right. There are 4 empty spaces so I need to add 4 zeros. Moving the decimal 4 places to the right is the same thing as multiplying by 10,000. 15 X 10,000= 150,000

The wonderful thing about the metric system is that everything is based on 10.

If you know how to convert length in the metric system, then you also know how to convert mass in the metric system.

Let’s talk about grams now.

In the metric system, the basic unit for measuring mass is the gram .

Pair of tennis shoes = 1 kilogram paperclip = 1 gram

The same silly saying will help with mass.

(Do you remember the silly saying?) Kiss Hogs Down At Motel Don’t Crush M&Ms k m k g h m da m m d m c m m m m The m stands for meter. We will substitute a g for gram to measure mass.

The order doesn’t change at all.

1 g = ___ mg kg hg dag g dg cg mg Start at g (for gram). Milligram is 3 places to the right. So all we have to do is move the decimal 3 places to the right. 1

1 0 0 0 I have moved the decimal 3 places to the right. There are 3 empty spaces so I need to add 3 zeros. Moving the decimal 3 places to the right is the same thing as multiplying by 1000.

If you know how to convert length (meter) and mass (gram) in the metric system, then you also know how to convert capacity (Liter) in the metric system.

Let’s talk about liters now.

In the metric system, the basic unit for measuring capacity is the liter .

2 liter bottle of pop 1 liter bottle of water

The same silly saying will help with capacity.

(Do you remember the silly saying?) Kiss Hogs Down At Motel Don’t Crush M&Ms k m k L h m da m m d d m c m m m m The m stands for meter. We will substitute a L for liter to measure capacity.

The order doesn’t change at all.

3.6 kL = ___ mL kL hL daL L dL cL mL Start at kL (for kiloliter). Milliliter is 6 places to the right. So all we have to do is move the decimal 6 places to the right. 3.6

3. 6 0 0 0 0 0 I have moved the decimal 6 places to the right. There are 5 empty spaces so I need to add 5 zeros. 3,600,00 Moving the decimal 6 places to the right is the same thing as multiplying by 1,000,000. 3.6 X 1,000,000 = 3,600,000

In 12 kilograms there are exactly how many hectograms?

120 hectograms

To convert 60 kilometers to meters?

Multiply 60 by 1,000

A car traveled 300 kilometers. What is the distance traveled in meters?

300,000 meters

To convert 24 milliliters to liters, the number of milliliters should be divided by what number?

1,000

Metrics

You can do this!