This program was designed for 5th - 8th grade students but could be adapted for grades 3 and 4. The program teaches the students to be comfortable using the Metric System. Students will take a predominantly hands-on approach to learning and to estimate and measure length, capacity, mass and temperature with metric units. When students perform everyday tasks using metric measurements, and do so consistently over a period of time, these measurements take on a meaning beyond the rote memorization of a table of conversions. Students begin with a discussion of how units of measurement evolve.
Students then work in groups to create a workable system of measurement.
A classroom list of problems encountered in generating a system of measurement is compiled, along with suggestions on how these problems could be solved. Students use these lists to show the logic and ease of the Metric System. The need to become familiar with metric measurements can be illustrated by the use of a short skit detailing the problems an average family might face when trying to use metric units. From this point, the program would become continuous, taking up only a few moments a day, two or three times per week. A minimal amount of preparation on the instructor's part would be required - mostly coming up with some familiar lengths, weights, etc., such as Michael Jordan's height in centimeters, the distance to a neighboring town in kilometers or the number of milliliters in an average carton of milk.