FIGURE 1. This is a meter-board. It is a centimeter thick, a decimeter wide, and a meter long. It is scored all around each decimeter, and one end is scored in centimeters. The scores are filled with blacking. FIGURE 2. The meter-board can be disjointed and stacked up to make a liter-cube, or parts of one. The pieces are held together in the form of a board or cube by magnets or by dowel pins. Note: Each piece of the meter-board/liter cube has its mass adjusted to exactly 100 grams, so that the whole has a mass of one kilogram. It is packaged in a clear plastic container which is graduated at 100-milliliter intervals. It is a most instructive experiment to measure out a liter of water and discover that its mass is one kilogram. Appendix I Program of the Education Conference Contributions to the National Metric Study Conference on Education, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 14 and 15 October 1970. General Contributions "Goals of the U.S. Metric Study" - Dr. Lewis M. Branscomb, Director, National Bureau of Standards "Metrication and Education" - Professor Jerrold R. Zacharias, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Curriculum Development Intermediate Science Curriculum Study - Dr. Ernest Burkman Education Development Center - Dr. Judson B. Cross American Association for the Advancement of Science - Dr. Arthur Liver more Project QPS-Dr. Sherwood Githens, Jr., Duke University Higher Education American Society for Engineering Education - Dean Cornelius Wand macher American Chemical Society - Dr. Stephen T. Quigley American Institute of Physics - Dr. Dwight E. Gray Mathematical Association of America - Dr. Alfred B. Willcox American Institute of Biological Sciences - Dr. John W. Thornton Support Activities American Library Association - Mr. Don S. Culbertson NEA Division of Adult Education Service - Dr. Richard W. Cortright Elementary and Secondary Education National Education Association- Mr. Allan West and Dr. I. A. Booker Association for Educational Communications and Technology - Mr. Council for Exceptional Children - Mrs. Carol Fineblum National Association of Secondary School Principals - Mr. John F. Kour madas Vocational and Technical Education American Vocational Association: Agricultural Education- William R. Jeffries New & Related Services - Mrs. Donna Seay Trade & Vocational Education- Mr. Lee W. Ralston Summary and Evaluation Dr. Berol L. Robinson, Education Development Center, Newton, Massachusetts; and Education Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Report of the National Education Association at the Education Conference Appendix II A position paper concerning the impact on school programs of a planned program of conversion to metric measurement, submitted by the National Education Association of the U.S., 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. This paper was presented at the Education Conference of the National Metric Study Conferences, held at the National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 14 and 15 October 1970. It documents the history of the support of educational organizations for metric reform; and it provides a clear and cogent statement of the advantages to be secured, of the adjustments to be made, and of experience elsewhere. Teaching aids are suggested together with a schedule for going metric in education. Some estimates of the costs are attempted. It is reprinted here as a resource paper of this component of the U.S. Metric Study. PREFACE This paper presents the official position of the National Education Association, established by action of its Representative Assembly, and such information as could be obtained within the limits of available time and resources with respect to the Association's interest in, and consideration of, the metric system over a period of many years. We should note, however, that in a professional association of more than a million members, whose responsibilities range over the entire gamut of subject areas and cover all the learning age levels from nursery school through the university, wide variation in point of view and degree of interest is undoubtedly present with respect to the matter here under consideration. In the preparation of this statement the NEA has had the helpful cooperation of many of its own staff units and also the collaboration of many of its departments, affiliated and associated organizations. In acknowledging their help, however, let it be emphasized that we do not presume to speak officially for these groups. This statement may not in all cases correctly or adequately reflect the interests or policies of the cooperating units. Indeed some of them will present supplementary or comprehensive position statements of their own which may, in some particulars, convey somewhat divergent points of view. Nevertheless, we believe that by and large this statement reflects rather faithfully the prevailing sentiment on the part of the teaching profession toward the adoption and use of the metric system in the United States. Appreciation for valued help in formulating and evaluating this statement is expressed to the following organizations, for the most part NEA Units and autonomous affiliated and associated organizations: Association for Educational Communications and Technology; American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation; American Association of School Administrators; American Industrial Arts Association; Association of Classroom Teachers; Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; Council of Chief State School Officers; Council for Exceptional Children; Home Economics Education Association; National Association for Public Continuing and Adult Education; National Association of Elementary School Principals; National Council for the Social Studies; National Council of State Education Associations; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; National Higher Education Association; National Science Teachers Association; NEA Committee on International Relations; NEA Division of Educational Technology; NEA Division of Adult Education Service; NEA Journal Staff; NEA Office of Government Relations and Citizenship; and the NEA Research Division. THE EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF METRICATION The interest of the National Education Association in the adoption of metric measurement is not of recent origin. A century ago a few distinguished members of the Association were advocating adoption of the metric system of weights and measures in the United States. And through the years many members have continued to support that position, especially some of the profession's foremost teachers of mathematics and science and some administrators and curriculum specialists concerned with program develop ment. The interest shown by teachers has by no means been universal and, except on the part of a few crusaders, has not been militantly agressive. Educators for the most part have believed that metric standards of measurement are superior to those in use and that if adopted in the United States it would be easier and less time consuming to teach the metric system. But few have regarded it as their duty to press for a change in public policy on this matter. Many have had teaching responsibilities which seldom involved the application or interpretation of measurement devices. Many educators as well as others, accustomed as they were to existing standards, were indifferent toward, or actually fearful of, any proposed change even if they would admit that theoretically there were many advantages. For such reasons it is only in recent years that the voice of teachers on the subject of metrication has been heard, from greater numbers and in more insistent tones. Association Interest a Century Ago The National Education Association was only 12 years old when in 1869 it created a Committee on Coins, Weights, and Measures, with Charles L. Davis of West Point as chairman. In his report to the Association, at the |