Wait there is more than one unit of Measure??? Math 1512

        As an outcome objective for this week, we were to identify units of measure in both the English System and Metric System. In my elementary school years, this was always a difficult area of math for me. At a young age you are working so hard at learning how to measure in general, that when you are asked to convert your answer into different units it adds frustration. Since measurement is used heavily in math I thought I would do a little research on both the Metric and English system.

     The metric system was first adopted by France in 1799 and soon became the measuring system of almost every country in the world besides the United states and a few small countries. The metric systems prefixes are based on powers of ten and the metric system is the system of choice when it comes to scientific and engineering purposes. The overall goal of the metric system was to create a universal measuring system for everyone to follow.
     The English system is a system of measurement that is based off of familiar body parts and objects. It was first made up by using body parts and objects to measure distances and other things. The downside of the English system was that since every ones body parts were not the exact same size, measuring was not consistent. Eventually a standard was formed so that anyone measuring a distance or object would attain the same answer.
     As teachers I think it is our duty to make sure students feel comfortable with converting back and forth between the two systems of measurement. When students are first learning to measure I think they should learn to measure using only one system. After they have mastered measuring then start introducing conversion. Giving a background on the history of both systems would also benefit them because then they would understand why the units are labeled the way they are. Take for instance the English system, we measure in feet because people in the older days used their actual feet to measure distances

Metric System
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system
English System
http://regentsprep.org/REgents/math/ALGEBRA/AM2/LesEng.htm