BooksForKidsBlog

Monday, October 08, 2007

It's National Metric Week, and Scarcely a Book to Be Found

We've had a lot on our minds since 1975, but have you ever wondered what happened to the metrification of America?
I remember buying a couple of dozen books for my elementary library and seeing dual interstate distance markers go up in miles and kilometers way back in the late 1970's, following the Metric Conversion Act of 1975. People, Get Ready! was the watchword, but since that time, even the dual distance signs have vanished, along with any firm date for our conversion. A quick look through booksellers' catalogs shows almost nothing for young readers published within the past dozen or so years.

Still, the metric system makes sense for international commerce and for scientific study, and our kids need to read up on the whys and wherefores of switching to the base-10 measurement system. Two books still available, if only through third parties, one in picture-book format and one early chapter book, look like a good place to start.

Polly's Pen Pal starts with Polly's curiosity about what her new pen pal looks like. Ally is 125 centimeters tall, weighs 25 kilograms, and lives 450 kilometers away. Polly has to find out what size Ally is and if she's close enough to visit.

Metric System (New True Book), one of the notable New True Books, has the virtues of its series--short, informational chapters well-written on a Grade 3-4 level, plenty of illustrations, and a useful glossary and index to tie it all together.

For the pre-middle school years, "that's all folks!"

It seems we should do better.

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4 Comments:

  • It's really a sign of America's shortsightedness and insularity. In the long run, it would save money, promote international trade, make our products more competitive internationally, and many other benefits.

    We learned the metric system in school in the 1970s and it was not difficult. However, I believe that a total "forced" switch to the metric system would be necessary and not just a few signs on the highway. And most American voters would not support it.

    Until then, we can teach our children about the metric system to better prepare them for the globalized economy. Encourage your schools and libraries to explore the metric system!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:49 AM  

  • My husband is from Europe and I'm from the U.S., so we "live" Polly and Ally quite frequently!!! Shannon

    By Blogger Going Crunchy, at 12:26 PM  

  • Nobody in the US uses the metric system. Kids should stop wasting their time on it, and the Europeans need to be told to switch back. This was all started by France.

    By Blogger Moby Dick, at 11:17 PM  

  • Anonymous is right; you are wrong, rust-head, er, I mean, iron-man.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:05 PM  

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