Materials Included In Kit

Additional Materials Required

Safety Precautions

The materials in this kit are considered nonhazardous and are reusable. Follow all classroom or laboratory safety guidelines.

Disposal

The metric measurement puzzle may be stored for reuse. After determining if the puzzle sheets will be cut, instruct students on proper storage. If the sheets will be cut, use resealable bags, such as Ziploc^® bags, or envelopes to keep the puzzle pieces together and tidy.

Lab Hints

• Enough materials are provided in this kit for 30 students working in pairs or for 15 groups of students. Both parts of this laboratory activity can reasonably be completed in one 50-minute class period. The pre-laboratory assignment may be completed before coming to lab or at the beginning of the class.
• After students have completed the metric measurement puzzle questions, they need to organize the information on the reverse side. The answers must be arranged in numerical order from lowest to highest to obtain the correct clues.
• The easiest way to do this is for students to cut out the squares, arrange the answers in numerical order, and then flip the squares over to get the proper arrangement of letters, spaces and punctuation.
• The students may also systematically work through the puzzle clues and then note the answers lowest to highest, writing down the information as they go. This eliminates the cutting and physical manipulation and the extra step of ordering the puzzle clues 1–16.
• The instructor should let students know how each group will relay their information to the rest of the class. For example, will students cut out each square and tape them onto a board or wall in the proper order to arrive at the quote? Alternatively, can students write their section on the board and then each subsequent group will do the same?
• Before beginning the activity, copy the Metric Measurement Puzzle Sheets so you will have extra copies in case of loss or damage from use.

Teacher Tips

• This activity is appropriate for studying the concepts of metric measurement.
• The Metric Measurement Puzzle Sheets can be used while learning the material or as a review.
• Each puzzle sheet follows the same basic template, and all sheets are thus the same level of difficulty.

Answers to Prelab Questions

1. What is the best unit of measure to quantify the width of your desk?

   Many students will answer centimeters. If desks are actually tables, meters might also be an acceptable answer.

2. What is the best unit of measurement to record the thickness of a strand of your hair?

   A human hair is usually measured in micrometers, μm, also known as microns.

3. What is the best unit of measure for the mass of an adult tiger?

   The best unit to measure the mass of a tiger is in kilograms.

4. In Equation 1, °C = (°F –32 )/1.8, why is the number 32 subtracted from the °F to convert to °C?

   Thirty-two is the difference between the scales, at the freezing point of water, 0 °C = 32 °F.

5. Locate a school supply like a book or pencil.
   1. Give a qualitative observation.

      The pencil is yellow.

   2. Give a quantitative observation.

      The pencil is 18.1 cm long.

Answers to Questions

Metric Measurement Quote—Answer from the Reverse Sides of the Puzzle Sheets

“ If you know a thing only qualitatively, you know it no more than vaguely. If you know it quantitatively—grasping some numerical measure that distinguishes it from an infinite number of other possibilities—you are beginning to know it deeply. You comprehend some of its beauty and you gain access to its power and the understanding it provides.” —Carl Sagan (1934–1996), Billions and Billions, 1997

Each Metric Measurement Puzzle Sheet has 16 letter(s) or letter/punctuation clues. Set 1 is the first 16 puzzle pieces of this quote, Set 2 and those after continue, with Set 15 having the last 16 puzzle pieces of this quote. Extra blank spaces may need to be added to correspond to spaces between words and after punctuation marks.

Teacher Handouts

12510_Teacher1.pdf

12510_Teacher2.pdf

Introduction

It is time to think metric. The metric system is used in science and throughout many countries in the world. How does the metric system relate to everyday items? How are measurements converted from one unit to another? Play Metric Measurements and find out!

Concepts

• Metric system
• International system of measurement (SI units)
• Metric conversions
• Qualitative vs. quantitative

Background

The world around us may be examined either quantitatively or qualitatively. A qualitative observation is one that describes the characteristics or attributes of an object. “The car is long” or “the melon is heavy” are qualitative observations. Quantitative observations are those that are measured. “The car is 6.4 m long” or “the melon is 3.6 kg” are quantitative observations. Because the scientific method depends on scientists being able to repeat experiments and reproduce results, observations and results are reported quantitatively whenever possible. In a science laboratory, quantitative measurements are made using the International System of Units (SI), also known as the metric system. It is necessary to understand SI for performing many scientific activities.

The metric system of measurement is based upon divisions of 10 using the same prefixes for length, mass, and volume. Most countries today use this system for all their measurements. Why does the United States still use the English system of measurement? The United States was mainly developed from English heritage, so it ended up with the English measurement system. Several attempts have been made to promote the use of the metric system in the United States, but all have failed due to strong public sentiment for the English system. Ironically, the British and their Commonwealth countries now use the metric system of measurement, but the United States, for the most part, still holds onto the English system. One area that does use the metric system as a standard is the field of science. The metric system is the foundation for most measurements and calculations used in all divisions of science.

Strengthen your knowledge of the metric system and the ability to carry out conversions between the prefix of a measurement and its corresponding numerical value. In this Metric Measurement Puzzle activity, metric conversions from one prefix to another will include units of mass (grams–g), volume (liters–L), and length (meters–m).

The most commonly used prefixes that appear in this activity are listed in the following table.

The conversion of temperature from units of °F to °C is also included in this activity. Water freezes at 32 °F and boils at 212 °F. This is a difference of 180 degrees. In Celsius, water freezes at 0 °C and boils at 100 °C—a one hundred–degree difference. This ratio of 180/100 appears in the temperature conversion equation (Equation 1). Length is a straight-line measurement of an object from one end to the other. The standard unit for length is the meter (m) and the most commonly used units for length include the millimeter, centimeter, meter and kilometer. The conversions may be calculated using the information in the table on page 1. For example, there are 1000 millimeters (mm) in a meter (m), 100 centimeters (cm) in a meter and 1000 meters in a kilometer (km). Length can be measured using a meter stick, metric ruler or tape.

Volume is the space an object takes up. The standard unit for volume is the liter (L) and the most commonly used units for volume include the milliliter (mL), microliter (μL) and liter. For example, there are 1000 milliliters in a liter and 1000 microliters in a milliliter. Common laboratory equipment used to measure volume are a graduated cylinder, beaker, flask or graduated pipet.

Mass is the amount of matter in an object. The standard unit for mass is the gram (g) and the most commonly used units for mass include the microgram (μg), milligram (mg), gram (g) and kilogram (kg). For example, there are 1000 micrograms in a milligram, 1000 milligrams in a gram and 1000 grams in a kilogram. The most common piece of laboratory equipment used to measure mass is a balance.

Temperature is the measure of how hot or cold an object is and is measured in units called degrees Celsius (°C), typically using a thermometer. Most safety thermometers contain a red alcohol solution in a sealed glass tube. As temperature increases, the liquid expands in the tube at a uniform rate corresponding to the calibrated scale. Thermometers may also be electronic or digital.

Experiment Overview

The purpose of this cooperative class activity is to answer a series of metric measurement questions on a puzzle sheet and use the answers to decode a quote about quantitative reasoning in science. There are 15 different puzzle sheets, Sets 1–15, each with 16 unique puzzle pieces (questions) that have multiple choice answers. After each group has verified their answers, the puzzle pieces may be cut out and arranged in numerical order from lowest to highest. The reverse side of each puzzle piece has a clue, which may be a letter or two. The whole class works together to enter their clues in the correct order and sequence and solve the puzzle!

Materials

Prelab Questions

For Questions 1–3, select a unit so the answers will be between 1 and 1000.

1. What is the best unit of measure to quantify the width of your desk?
2. What is the best unit of measurement to record the thickness of a strand of your hair?
3. What is the best unit of measure for the mass of an adult tiger?
4. In Equation 1, °C = (°F –32 )/1.8, why is the number 32 subtracted from the °F to convert to °C?
5. Locate a school supply like a book or pencil.
   1. Give a qualitative observation.
   2. Give a quantitative observation.

Safety Precautions

This activity is considered nonhazardous. Please follow all classroom or laboratory safety guidelines.

Procedure

1. Divide the class into 15 groups.
2. Distribute a unique Metric Measurement Puzzle Sheet to each group.
3. Working within your group, answer all 16 puzzle questions on the sheet. The answers are multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank.
4. After verifying the answers with your teammates, cut out the individual puzzle pieces and arrange the answers in order from lowest to highest numerical values. Note that the numerical values may be direct answers to the puzzle questions or multiple choice answers.
5. Each box on the reverse side of the puzzle sheets has a letter or letters and punctuation marks. Turn over the pieces in order and write the clues in the spaces provided on the Puzzle Quote Sheet (see the Set No. for your puzzle sheet).
6. All 15 groups should report their clues in order, from set 1 through set 15, to the whole class. The result is a profound quote about the metric system.
7. (Optional—Noncutting Procedure) After verifying the answers with your teammates, rank each puzzle, 1–16, in order from lowest to highest numerical values based on the puzzle answers. Transfer the corresponding clues on the Metric Measurements Puzzle Quote Sheet without cutting.

Student Worksheet PDF

12510_Student1.pdf