Metric System
President George Washington first proposed that the US adopt the metric
system as its system of measurement. He was voted down. While nearly every
country uses the metric system, only scientists in the US use it.
A suffix is a part of a word that comes at the end of a word. The metric
system suffixes include:
 -meter for distance
 -liter for liquid volume
 -gram for mass
 -Celsius for temperature
A prefix is a part of a word that comes at the beginning of a word. Three of
the metrics prefixes include:
 kilo- means 1000 times (large amounts)
 centi- means one-hundreth 1/100 (small amounts)
 milli- means one-thousandth 1/1000 (very small amounts)
Sometimes the suffixes are used alone, with no prefix. Other times the
prefixes will be attached to the suffixes. Common metric measures that are used in
science include:
millimeter
centimeter
meter
milligram
gram
kilogram
milliliter
liter
kiloliter
See if you can unscramble these 10 words to make the correct metric units of
measurement.
1. magr
_______________
6. olterilki
_______________
2. sleiuCs
_______________
7. liermtelim
_______________
3. ermte
_______________
8. nitermtece
_______________
4. teril
_______________
9. olermteki
_______________
5. olmagrki
_______________
10. lilterilim
_______________
Distance
Distance is a measurement of something’s length, width, or height.
Millimeters (mm) are used to measure the smallest distances. They are so small they
can be used for measuring the length of an ant egg or the radius of a piece of hair.
Centimeters (cm) are used to measure things like the width of this paper or the
height of a person.
Meters (m) are used for measuring things like the length of a room or the height of a
mountain.
Kilometers (km) are used for measuring things like the distance between New York
and Los Angeles.
There are many instruments used to measure distance. They include:
 Odometers in cars
 Meter sticks
 The metric side of rulers
What does a metric ruler look like?
Look at the metric ruler below. You will see lots of little lines and every so often a
much longer line marked with a number. The longer lines are centimeter (cm) marks,
and the shorter lines are millimeter (mm) marks (one-tenth of a centimeter – 0.1).
What suffix is used to measure distance in the metric system? _______________
What unit is used to measure very small distances? __________________
What unit is used to measure the height of people? ___________________
What unit is used to measure very large distances? ____________________
How many centimeters (cm) are on this metric ruler? ____________________
How many millimeters (mm) are on this metric ruler? ____________________
Reading A Metric Ruler
Remember: The longer lines labeled with numbers are centimeters (cm) and the
smaller lines are millimeters (mm).
1.0 cm
10 mm
4.4 cm
44 mm
8.6 cm
86 mm
13.0 cm
130 mm
15.7 cm
157 cm
(Since the metric system is based on the number 10, it uses decimals. To change the
numbers from centimeters to millimeters the decimal was moved to the right one
space.)
What is the distance?
There are letters along the bottom edge of the rulers. Write the measurement for
each letter in the space next to the correct letter below.
A
B
A: _____cm
D: _____cm
C
D
B: ______mm
E: ______cm
Using a real metric ruler:

Draw a line that is 3 centimeters long.

Draw a line that is 1 centimeter long.

Draw a line that is 10 millimeters long.
How many millimeters are there in 1 centimeter?
What part of a centimeter is 1 millimeter?
E
F
C: ______mm
F: ______mm
Mass
Mass measures the amount of matter an item contains.
Milligrams (mg) measure the mass of very small things like a dose of medicine or
vitamins in food
Grams (g) are used to measure larger things like the mass of mustard in a bottle.
Kilograms (kg) measure large things like the mass of a student
The instrument that is used to measure mass is the triple beam balance.
What does a triple beam balance look like?
Look at the triple beam balance below. It has three bars. The first bar reads
individual grams (1-10). The last bar reads ONLY in 10 gram increments (10 – 100).
The middle bar reads ONLY in 100 gram increments (100-500). The weights in the
middle and far bars must ALWAYS sit in the “notch”. They can not be placed in
between two values. The weights are on the first bar can be placed anywhere. To
find the mass of an object add the three amounts up for the total.
What suffix is used to measure mass in the metric system? _________________
What unit is used to measure very small amounts? _________________
What unit is used to measure very large amounts? __________________
What instrument is used to measure mass? __________________
Reading A Triple Beam Balance
Remember: You must add up the values of all three bars to get the total mass.
Rear weight is in the notch reading...... 70 g
Middle weight is in the notch............... 300 g
Front beam weight reads..............................3.3 g
Total weight of a can of soda......................... 373.3 g
What is the mass of this object?
Rear weight is in the notch reading...... ________
Middle weight is in the notch.................________
Front beam weight reads..........................________
Total weight of object………......................._________
Volume
Used to measure the amounts of liquids in a container.
Milliliters (ml) measure small amounts of liquids like a can of soda.
Liters (l) measure larger things like gas in a car’s gas tank or water in a pool.
There are many instruments used to the volume of liquids. They include:
 Beakers
 Graduated Cylinders
 Measuring Cups
What is the difference between a graduated cylinder and a beaker?
Graduated cylinders and beakers are read similarly to how rulers are made. Rulers
are read from left to right and graduated cylinders/beakers are read from bottom to
top.
Graduated Cylinders
Beaker
What suffix is used to measure volume in the metric system? ________________
What unit is used to measure small amounts of liquids? ____________________
What unit is used to measure large amounts of liquids? __________________
What instruments can be used to measure the volume of liquids? _______________
Reading A Graduated Cylinder
Remember: Read from the bottom up. Because the liquid is curved, you must read
the bottom of the meniscus (or curve). Not all graduated cylinders are the same, so
determine how each cylinder is divided.
This graduated cylinder follows units of
10. Each line between the number equals
1 ml.
The bottom of the meniscus (curve)
shows the volume of the liquid = 43 ml
What are the volumes in the following graduated cylinders?
_____________ml
____________ml
Temperature
Temperature measures how hot or cold something is.
Scientists use degrees Celsius. This is an easy unit to use because water freezes at
0 degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
The tool used to measure temperature is the thermometer.
What does a Celsius thermometer look like?
What is the suffix used to measure temperature in the metric system? __________
What temperature does water freeze? _____________
What temperature does water boil? ______________
If it is 0 degrees Fahrenheit outside what is it in Celsius? _______________
If it is 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside what is it in Celsius? _______________
If it is 80 degrees Fahrenheit outside what is it in Celsius? _______________
If it is 110 degrees Fahrenheit outside what is it in Celsius? _______________