Metric System of

Measurement

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The Metric system of measurement was created about two hundred years ago by a group of French scientists to simplify measurement.  

Length:

• The measured distance from one end to the other of an object.

• Base unit in the metric system is the

Meter.

1 meter (1m)

1 meter (1m)or the length of a baseball bat

1 millimeter (1 mm)

About the thickness of a dime

1 centimeter (1 cm)

1 kilometer (1 km)

1 kilometer (1 km)

OR About the length of 10 football fields

Mass:

• A quantity of matter.

• Base unit in the metric system is the

Gram.

1 gram (1 g)

1 gram (1 g)

or the mass of a paperclip

1 milligram (1 mg)

About the mass of a grain of sand

1 kilogram (1 kg)

1 kilogram (1 kg)

or the mass of

your textbook

Volume / Capacity• Space

included within limits as measured

• Base unit in the metric system is the

Liter.

1 liter (1 L)

1 liter of coke

1 liter (1 L)

1 milliliter (1 mL or 1 ml) Capacity of an eyedropper

1 milliliter (1 mL or 1 ml)

1 kiloliter (1kL or 1 kl)

About the capacity of

4 bathtubs

Temperature: • The degree of

hotness or coldness of something

• Base unit in the metric system is the

Celsius.

degree Celsius (°C)

What would you use to measure:

the length of a car?the length of your desk?the mass of your pencil?the mass of a teenager?the capacity of a school milk carton?the capacity of a swimming pool?

What would you use to measure:

the length of a car? - meterthe length of your desk? - centimeterthe mass of your pencil? - gramthe mass of a teenager? - kilogramthe capacity of a school milk carton? -

centiliterthe capacity of a swimming pool? - kiloliter

In the metric system, each of the common kinds of measure –

length, weight, capacity Each has one basic unit of measure

To measure smaller amounts, divide the basic unit into parts of ten, a hundred, or a thousand, and soon. 

To measure larger amounts, multiply the basic unit by ten, a hundred, or a thousand, and so on.  

 

 Length:1 kilometer (km) = 1000 meters (m)1 centimeter (cm) = .01 meter (m)

1 millimeter (mm) = .001 meter (m) 

Capacity:1 milliliter = .001 liter (l)

Weight:1 kilogram (kg) = 1000 grams (g)1 milligram (mg) = .001 gram (g)

 

Kilo  means thousand (1000)Hecto means hundred (100)Deca means ten (10)Deci means one-tenth (1/10)Centi means one-hundredth (1/100)Milli means one-thousandth (1/1000)

When making metric conversions, arrange the prefixes from largest to smallest:

Kilo   hecto   deca   UNIT   deci  centi  milli  

King Henry Died by drinking Choc Milk

Kilo   hecto   deca   UNIT   deci  centi  milli  

Another way to remember might be