Metric question

[cameraman]

My son has learning the metric system in school and I'm a bit perplexed with their choice of units. They are harping on deciliters and decimeters. If something is 240 mm they are calling it 2.4 decimeters. Now I know that it is correct but who on earth actually uses decimeters on day to day basis? Just about everything I've ever seen has been done in mm. Hell even freezers in my lab were described as 1980 mm tall not 19.8 dm or even 198 cm. Same goes for ml. The drink I'm looking at is labeled 350 ml not 3.5 dl.

Probably 75% of the questions involve the deci- unit. It just seems odd:confused:

[datachicane]

They're just trying to make it easier to learn, dividing by 10 rather than 100 or 1,000. Good way to give them a mathematical understanding of the latin roots, as opposed to just arbitrary memorization.

[G.]

The metric system is too easy, teachers need to come up hard questions.

Centimeters always pissed me off, since they don't follow the 0.001, 1, 1000 rule.

Useful buggers, though.

[Andrew Longman]

This may be more about teaching math than the metric system.

By focusing on decastuff they are engaging his brain to think about multiplication, division and groupings.

Besides only those socialist European countries use that metric stuff, right? ;)

[opinionated ow]

I've used them the metric system my entire life and I have never one used any deci unit with the exception of decibels.

[NismoZ]

Yeah, but how many rods along the side of a square acre?:confused:

[Don Quixote]

There is no such thing as a square acre. :p

[NismoZ]

Dang Romans!

[dando]

They're just trying to make it easier to learn, dividing by 10 rather than 100 or 1,000. Good way to give them a mathematical understanding of the latin roots, as opposed to just arbitrary memorization.

Correct. We're going through the same thing in second grade now. It's more about the number of units involved rather than the units of measure. Now if I could just get our oldest to grasp pints, cups, etc. :saywhat:

-Kevin

[Don Quixote]

We're going through the same thing in second grade now. -KevinI call BS. You never passed the first grade.....

[Gnam]

social promotion :D

[dando]

I call BS. You never passed the first grade.....

Yer thinking about yer tOSU degree, water boy. :p :gomer: And yes, Carolanne learning fractions in second grade is causing night sweats. ;) :eek:

-Kevin

[cameraman]

There is no such thing as a square acre. :p

Sure there is. You can have a square acre or a rectangular acre or triangular or round... :p

[Don Quixote]

Sure there is. You can have a square acre or a rectangular acre or triangular or round... :p
[dude lebowski] In the current vernacular, we refer to those as square-shaped acres. [/dude lebowski] :p

[Gnam]

Sure there is. You can have a square acre or a rectangular acre or triangular or round... :p

Oh! A wiseacre, huh?

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/8896/threestoogesu.jpg

[Ankf00]

My son has learning the metric system in school and I'm a bit perplexed with their choice of units. They are harping on deciliters and decimeters. If something is 240 mm they are calling it 2.4 decimeters. Now I know that it is correct but who on earth actually uses decimeters on day to day basis? Just about everything I've ever seen has been done in mm. Hell even freezers in my lab were described as 1980 mm tall not 19.8 dm or even 198 cm. Same goes for ml. The drink I'm looking at is labeled 350 ml not 3.5 dl.

Probably 75% of the questions involve the deci- unit. It just seems odd:confused:

no one uses it IRL, but it's one of those mental masturbation exercises that teachers just love to harp on and act as if it's actually important. I mean, it doesn't even apply in academia... mil, nano, micro pico, and cent for the practicality of it. like any kid comes out of grade school knowing petabytes from terabytes

[Ankf00]

I call BS. You never passed the first grade.....

lulz.

[Methanolandbrats]

deciliter is a fine measurement when making a cocktail :D

[Don Quixote]

deciliter is a fine measurement when making a cocktail :D M&B nails it! What could possibly be more important than that! I hope I never meet the Nancy boy that measures coctails in ml. :thumbup: :D

[TKGAngel]

no one uses it IRL, but it's one of those mental masturbation exercises that teachers just love to harp on and act as if it's actually important. I mean, it doesn't even apply in academia... mil, nano, micro pico, and cent for the practicality of it. like any kid comes out of grade school knowing petabytes from terabytes

I had to Google petabyte and terabyte.

And seriously, no math education can be worse than what happened to me in 8th grade. The wonderful nuns in charge of my Catholic school decided that since 95% of the class was heading to vocational high school, we wouldn't learn pre-algebra in math class. Instead, we took a math skills class. I learned how to write a check, balance a checkbook, compute interest on a savings account, and how to multiply the ingredients in a recipe to make 12-dozen paczki. Useful skills, definitely. But not at all helpful when I took algebra in 9th grade. That was an ugly couple of years for math.

[TRDfan]

According to Bob & Doug McKenzie, you double it and add 30.

http://soundcloud.com/rrfellis/bob-doug-mckenzie-metric

[pfc_m_drake]

I've used them the metric system my entire life and I have never one used any deci unit with the exception of decibels.
And really, that's only because it's a log base10 scale.

But I agree with you. I'm an engineer. I do calculations in metric units on a daily basis. Not once have I used deci anything.

[cameraman]

I was doing a standard curve a while back that dropped into the atto- range. That was a first for me and one damn sensitive assay too.

[dando]

I was doing a standard curve a while back that dropped into the atto- range. That was a first for me and one damn sensitive assay too.

So you're saying that you had to take your shoes off. ;) :D

-Kevin

[Methanolandbrats]

I was doing a standard curve a while back that dropped into the atto- range. That was a first for me and one damn sensitive assay too.

Well just be glad it was not yocto because that's when things get really ****ing tiny.

[TrueBrit]

Oh! A wiseacre, huh?

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/8896/threestoogesu.jpg

Speaking of which, does that new Three Stooges movie look like total suckage on celluloid or what?

[Don Quixote]

Yes.

[cameraman]

I will leave it to others to determine just how horrid that movie will be. I'm guessing something in the peta- to exa-suck range...