Name: Brian Boughton
Supervising Teacher: Mrs. Albert
Grade/School: 5/Alcott Elementary
Lesson Title: The Metric System
Content Area: Numbers and Measurement
Content Area: I will be teaching the students about the Metric system. I will be explaining its
history, usage around the world, usage in the United States, etc. I will also be teaching the
students how to convert units within the metric system, e.g., converting from centimeters to
meters, grams to kilograms, etc. The focus will mainly be on solid measurement such as
distance, perimeter, area, etc. If there is time, we may cover measurements of mass and liquid
volume as well. We also may cover conversions from the old English units to metric units, but
that is a more advanced topic.
Topic: The focus of my lesson will be getting students to understand the various prefixes that
describe measurements in the metric system and to be able to convert between them, e.g.,
millimeters to decameters and so forth. Much of the lesson will be spent explaining that the
simplest way to convert would be to convert to the “base” measurement with no prefix, and then
going from there.
Goals: I want my students to be able to appreciate the Metric System for its simplicity in that it
is easy to convert between measures because they are all multiples of 10. I want my students to
have a basic understanding of how to convert between these measurements so that they will be
able to use the measurements more easily in their future science and math courses.
Objectives:

My students will be able to make measurements in the metric system.

My students will be able to calculate perimeter and area in the metric system.

My students will be able to convert from the base unit to other units using multiplication
or division.

My students will be able to choose the most appropriate unit of measure for a given
object.

My students will have a basic understanding of the background and usage of the metric
system today.

My students will be able to use this information in a practical way by measuring various
objects in the classroom.
Technology, materials, and aids: I will be using my website to convey the initial information
for the website. I will also make a number of worksheets and handouts to help the students in
converting between measurements. I will also try to have metric rulers and/or meter sticks
available so that they can practice measuring using the metric system instead of the English
system of inches and feet.
Procedures/methods
a.) Overview: I will be trying to take up much of the students’ science block, maybe
even for more than one day (if that is okay with my supervising teacher, we have not
discussed time allotment yet). First will be the presentation that (briefly) covers the
history of the system, and goes more in depth into how to convert from one
measurement to another. We will practice with a few worksheets and then we will
move on to applications that are more practical.
b.) Introduction: The lesson will begin with my website presentation. This will give the
information that they need to get started such as what the Metric System is, how it is
used, and how the students will use it in the future. We will cover the various
prefixes that describe the different measurements and how they relate to each other.
c.) Activities:
1.) The introduction will be using the website, which will cover all of the basic
information needed for the students to begin using the metric system.
2.) I will do a few examples on the board so that they can see how the metric
system works. I will also pass out a worksheet that will have various
conversion factors on them so that they can see how to convert from one unit
to the other (I may have examples/conversion factors on my website instead.
It depends on which my teacher thinks will be more effective).
3.) I will pass out a number of worksheets with practice problems and see how
strong their abilities are in converting from one unit to another. If they need
more practice, I can do more examples on the board for them.
4.) Next will be actual practical experiences. I will have them measure a
paperclip, a sheet of paper, their desk, maybe even the perimeter/area of the
room depending on how much time we have. I will have them put these
measures in the most appropriate measurement (so the area of the room would
not be in cubic centimeters, and the length of a paperclip will not be in
kilometers).
5.) I plan to try to write a Java applet for my website that will work as an
interactive practice program that will ask the students questions and then have
them fill in an answer. If they are correct it will tell them so, if they are
incorrect it will show them the correct answer. While other students are
working on the practical experiences listed above, some students can be taking
turns at the two computers in the room to do these practice problems.
d.) This information will follow the students through their careers in Middle and High
School. Students will use it most often in science where they will measure all data
for laboratory experiments using the Metric System. It will also be an important thing
to know for geometry when many area and perimeter problems might be expressed in
meters, centimeters etc. I hope that this lesson will at least be the beginning of a solid
foundation for the metric system because when I was in school, we did not really
cover it until we needed to use it.
Technology Frameworks:
1.7: Collaborate with classmates to use teacher-selected Web sites.
2.4: Develop an understanding of how the computer is a tool for learning.
3.1: Explore and develop understanding of how to gather information from a variety of
electronic sources, including teacher-selected Web sites, CD-ROM encyclopedias, and
automated card catalog.
Assessment: I will use a series of matching and binary questions to evaluate the students’
understanding of the metric system and the advantages of using it as a system of measurement. I
want my students to have a knowledge-based understanding from the website and a skills-based
understanding from the activities particularly Comprehension and Mechanism. I have planned a
series of activities to test their understanding in a practical way (see above). The questions I will
use to test their understanding are:
True/False:
1.) The U.S. uses the Metric System as its primary method of measurement. F
2.) Only a few countries use the Metric System. F
3.) The metric system is based on multiples of ten. T
4.) It is simple to convert from U.S. Units to Metric Units. F
5.) It is simple to convert from Metric Units to other Metric Units. T
Multiple Choice:
1.) How many centimeters are there in a meter?
a. 10
b. 100
c. 1000
d. None of the Above
2.) Which of the following do not use the metric system?
a. Canada
b. France
c. Germany
d. Burma
3.) The system that makes the metric system simpler to work with is:
a. Decimal System
b. U.S. Standard System
c. English System