3.1 Systems of Measurement

Chapter 3 Length, Area and Volume

Outcomes• Describe situations relevant to self, family, or community in

which SI and/or Imperial units for area measurement are used.

• Justify the choice of referents for area measurements in both the SI and Imperial units (e.g., a dime or a small fingernail is about one cm2 and the thumb nail is about 1 in2).

• Measure and record (using Canadian spelling and abbreviations for SI or Imperial units) using a variety of instruments such as trundle or surveyor’s wheels, height gauges, metric and Imperial tapes and rulers, carpenter’s squares, micrometers, fractional or electronic callipers, and pedometers:

• distances at school, at home, and in the community

• inside diameters, outside diameters, lengths, and widths of personally relevant 3-D objects.

• Develop, generalize, explain, and apply strategies to convert units of linear measurements within the same system (e.g., feet to yards, or metres to millimetres).

Definitions _________________________: A unit of measurement in which

other units are based

Volume: __________________________________________________

Conversion Factor: a number by which a quantity expressed in one unit must be __________________ by to ________________________ ___________________________

Example 1

Imperial conversion table

1 foot __________ inches

1 yard __________ feet

__________ inches

1 mile 1760 yards __________ feet

Convert the following

6 feet = _______inches

3 yards = ________ feet

2 miles = _______ yards

Example 2Maxine is a finishing carpenter who is replacing the case moulding around a double French door and the baseboards around the 4 walls of a living room. The dimensions of the rectangular living room are 20’ x 15’ The French door frame measures 72”x84”. Case moulding costs $9.50 a linear foot and baseboard costs $4.50 a linear foot. These items must be purchased in whole feet. If Maxine’s labour charge it $8.50/linear foot what will the total cost of this job be?

Example 3Kiri needs to replace a wooden fence that surrounds her yard. She measured her property, and it is 18 yards wide and 12 yards deep. There is no fence in front of her house, and the gap in the fence at the front of the property is 42 feet. Kiri plans to replace the existing fence pickets with 5-foot long cedar boards placed vertically. The boards are 5.5” wide and will be spaced 0.25” apart. She placed an order for 275 boards. Did she order enough boards?

Example 4Julie, a baker, specializes in wedding cakes. She would like to calculate the cost of decorating a 3-tiered circular cake with fresh flowers around the base of each level. The bottom cake has a 14” diameter, the middle layer has a 10” diameter, and the top layer has a 6” diameter. All three layers are stacked on top of each other without spacers. If the cost of 1 ½” wide red roses is $0.99 and the cost of 2 ½” wide red roses us $1.49, which side of roses should Julie decorate with to give her client the best price?

Example 5 Convert the following

60 inches to feet

25 inches to feet and inches

104 inches to yards

7 miles to yards

Assignment