Latest / Kidcast Daily / Ep160: Imperial vs Metric System of Measurement

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Ep160: Imperial vs Metric System of Measurement · Kidcast Daily

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  Spin the wheel, let's take a ride.
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  Sports and science bursting from inside a world of wonder.
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  Open wide. Come on kids, let's amplify kid
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  cats Daily starts your day fun. Welcome to Kick Ass Daily, where
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  we bring news, trivia, fun facts, and more just for curious
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  kids like you. Today, we're going to explore
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  something you've probably seen on your water bottle, in science
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  class, or even while baking cookies with your family.
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  Have you ever wondered why sometimes we measure things in
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  inches, feet, and pounds, but other times it's centimeters,
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  meters, and kilograms? That's because there are two
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  main ways people around the world measure things the
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  imperial system and the metric system.
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  Let's jump in and discover what makes them different and why
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  they're both so important. Imagine you're building a super
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  cool tree house with your friends.
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  You need to measure the wood, the height of the ladder, and
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  maybe even how much your snack basket weighs.
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  But wait, what if your friend says the ladder is 6 feet tall
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  and you say it's about 183 centimeters tall?
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  Who's right? Well, you both are.
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  You're just using different measurement systems.
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  The imperial system uses units like inches, feet, yards, and
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  miles for length, while the metric system uses millimeters,
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  centimeters, meters, and kilometers.
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  Let's take a closer look at both.
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  First up, the imperial system. This is the system you'll most
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  often find in the United States and sometimes in the United
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  Kingdom. It's like a giant measurement
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  puzzle made-up of all sorts of pieces.
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  For example, there are 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, and
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  1760 yards in a mile. That can be a lot to remember.
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  When it comes to weight, The Imperial system uses oz and
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  pounds. There's 16 ounces in a pound.
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  For liquids, you might hear about pints, quarts and gallons.
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  2 pints make a quart and 4 quarts make a gallon.
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  It's kind of like stacking building blocks.
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  Each block is a different size and you have to remember how
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  many of one block make another. Now let's zoom over to the
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  metric system. This system is used by most
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  countries around the world like France, Japan, Australia, India,
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  and Brazil. The metric system is all about
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  10s. Everything is based on
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  multiplying or dividing by 10. For length, you start with a
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  millimeter, which is tiny, about the thickness of a credit card.
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  10mm make a centimeter, 100 centimeters make a meter, and
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  1000 meters make a kilometer. For weight you have grams and
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  kilograms. 1 kilogram is 1000 grams.
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  For liquids you measure in milliliters and liters.
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  One liter is 1000 milliliters. It's like playing a video game
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  where you level up by 10s every time.
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  Here's a fun fact. The metric system was created in
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  France in the late 1700s to make measuring easier for everyone.
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  Before that, every country and even different towns had their
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  own way of measuring things. Imagine trying to trade apples
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  with your neighbor, but their pound was different from your
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  pound. Confusing, right?
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  The metric system helped fix that by making everything simple
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  and the same no matter where you are.
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  Let's compare the two systems side by side.
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  Picture a race between two runners, one named imperial and
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  the other named metric. Imperial takes big steps
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  sometimes, small steps other times, and you have to remember
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  how many small steps make a big step.
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  Metric, on the other hand, just take steps that are always 10
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  times bigger or smaller than the last.
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  It's tidy and easy to count. Now let's talk about some things
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  you see every day when you drink a bottle of water.
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  The label might say 500 milliliters or 16.9 oz.
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  That's milliliters for metric and oz for imperial.
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  If you're measuring your height, you might say you're 4 feet, 6
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  inches tall, or you could say you're 137 centimeters tall.
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  Both are correct, just different ways to say it.
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  And on the road, you might see a speed limit sign that says 60
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  mph in the US, but in Canada it says 100 kilometers per hour.
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  It's like the same story told in two different languages.
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  Did you know that scientists, astronauts and even Olympic
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  athletes use the metric system? That's because it's so much
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  easier to use when you need to be exact.
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  Imagine building a rocket. If you mix up your meters and
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  feet, your rocket might end up on the moon or in the middle of
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  the ocean. In fact, one time a real life
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  spacecraft called the Mars Climate Orbiter crashed because
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  some people were using imperial units and others were using
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  metric units. Oops.
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  That's why everyone in science uses metric to keep things super
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  clear. But why does the United States
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  still use the imperial system? Great question.
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  It's mostly because it's what people are used to.
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  Changing to a whole new system would mean switching all the
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  road signs, recipe books, and even sports fields.
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  That would be a huge project. Some things in the US are
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  actually measured in metric, like soda bottles and medicine.
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  So you could say the US is a little bit metric and a little
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  bit imperial. Let's play a quick game of guess
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  the measurement. I'll give you something and you
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  guess if it's usually measured in imperial or metric.
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  Ready. First one, a marathon race.
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  If you guessed metric, you're right.
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  Marathons are 42.195 kilometers long.
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  Next, the height of a basketball hoop in the NBA?
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  That's imperial. It's 10 feet tall.
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  How about the weight of a newborn baby in most hospitals
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  around the world? Metric.
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  Again, babies are weighed in kilograms.
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  And lastly, the length of a football field in the United
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  States. Imperial.
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  It's 100 yards long. Pretty cool, right?
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  Now you'll notice which system is being used all around you.
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  Here's another fun fact. The metric system is sometimes
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  called the International System of Units, or SI for short.
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  It's used by scientists, engineers, and even chefs who
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  want to follow recipes from other countries.
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  It helps everyone speak the same measurement language, even if
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  they speak different words. Let's imagine your baking
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  cookies. The recipe says you need 200
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  grams of flour, but your kitchen scale only shows oz.
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  What do you do? Well, you can use a conversion
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  chart or calculator to change grams to ounces. 1 oz is about
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  28g, so 200 grams is about 7 oz. It's like translating from
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  English to Spanish, but with numbers.
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  Some people find the metric system easier because it's all
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  about 10s. If you want to go from meters to
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  centimeters, just multiply by 100.
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  If you want to go from liters to milliliters, multiply by 1000.
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  In the imperial system, you have to remember different numbers,
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  like 12 inches in a foot or 16 ounces in a pound.
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  It's a bit like remembering everyone's birthdays.
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  You have to keep track of lots of different numbers, but both
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  systems have their own charm. The imperial system has been
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  around for hundreds of years and is part of history.
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  Think of kings and Queens and old castles.
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  They probably used feet and inches.
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  The metric system is newer and was designed to be simple and
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  universal, like a super cool invention that makes life easier
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  for everyone. Let's recap some of the main
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  points we learned today. The imperial system uses units
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  like inches, feet, yards, miles, oz, pounds, pints, quarts, and
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  gallons. It's used mostly in the United
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  States and a few other places. The metric system uses
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  millimeters, centimeters, meters, kilometers, grams,
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  kilograms, milliliters, and liters.
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  It's based on 10's and is used by most of the world, especially
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  in science and sports. Both systems can measure the
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  same things, just in different ways.
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  If you ever need to switch between them, you can use a
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  chart or a calculator to help. And now that you know about
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  both, you can be a measurement detective, spotting imperial and
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  metric units everywhere you go. So next time you're measuring
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  your height, cooking up a storm, or watching a race, you'll know
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  exactly which system is being used and why.
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  Keep your eyes open for inches and centimeters, pounds and
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  kilograms, miles and kilometers, and see how many you can find in
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  your everyday life. Thanks for joining us on Kit
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  Cast Daily, where learning is always fun and full of
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  adventure. Until next time, keep asking
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  questions, keep exploring, and remember, no matter how you
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  measure it, curiosity is the best tool of all.
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