LESSON ASSIGNMENT
LESSON 4
The Metric System.
LESSON ASSIGNMENT
Frames 4-1 through 4-49.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
Pencil, eraser.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, you should be able to:
4-1.
Identify common metric system terminology dealing with
length, weight/mass, volume, area, and temperature, to include the
meanings of metric prefixes.
4-2.
Perform conversions within the metric system.
4-3.
Convert from the U.S. Customary System of length, weight/mass,
volume, area, and temperature to the metric system.
4-4.
Convert from the metric system of length, weight/mass, volume,
area, and temperature to the U.S. Customary System.
SUGGESTION
Work the following exercises (numbered frames) in numerical order. Write
the answer in the space provided in the frame. After you have completed a
frame, check your answer against solution given in the shaded area of the
following frame. The final frame contains review exercises for Lesson 4.
These exercises will help you to achieve the lesson objectives.
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FRAME 4-1.
HISTORY. Man has realized for thousands of years that he must have a
system of weights and measures for trade and commerce. Ancient
civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley developed
standard weights and measures. In the 13th century, England developed
standards based on the older Roman standards. In 1789, the
revolutionary government of France commissioned the French Academy
of Science to establish a system of measurement and weights suitable
for use throughout the world. The Academy created a system that was
simple and scientific. The unit of length (meter or metre) was standard-
ized by marking the distance on a platinum bar. Measures for capacity
(volume) and mass (weight) were derived from the unit of length, thus
relating the basic units of the system to each other. Furthermore, larger
and smaller versions of each unit were created by multiplying or dividing
the basic unit by 10 or multiples of 10, thus making this system (called
the metric system) a "base 10" or "decimal" system. In 1799, these
standards were legally adopted as the weights and measures in France.
What country is credited with developing a system of measurements
founded upon the powers of 10?
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MD0900
4-1