Measuring+with+SI+Units

Scientists are **inquirers**. They ask a lot of questions about how things work and why things are like this. They seek to understand their own questions and the answers they get. This means scientists are curious. They want to learn something new everyday. Lets keep "**inquirer**" in our mind as we review these measuring concepts.

**Learner tip of the day:** If a question pops into your head, and you can't find the answer __write it down__. If you write it down you are less likely to forget it and when your parent/guardian is around you can ask them or ask a teacher at school. One reason we enjoy coming to school is to answer questions, but also giving you the chance to find your own solutions.

**U**nit vocabulary

__Matter__ - anything that takes up space


**Table 1. SI base units** || ||
 * ~ Base quantity ||~ Name ||~ Symbol ||
 * length || meter || m ||
 * mass || kilogram || kg ||
 * time || second || s ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">electric current || <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">ampere || <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">A ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">thermodynamic temperature || <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">kelvin || <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">K ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">amount of substance || <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">mole || <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">mol ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">luminous intensity || <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">candela || <span style="background-color: #ffad00; display: block; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">cd ||  ||

__**Enrichment:**__ The [|National Institute of Standards and Technology](NIST) offers an excellent description and background (i.e. history) of the SI system, units and the many prefixes that we may work with in the field of science. The [|NIST] operates the Physical Measurement Laboratory where they develop and [|disseminate] national standards of measurement. To learn more about NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratoy click [|here.]

Now it's time for.. ... <span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 300%;">__Measuring!__. media type="custom" key="12260822" In science we describe things in terms of their physical properties as well as many other different ways. For example, when you were born we may have described you as female, 19 inches long, 7 pounds, 6 ounces. Your length and weight was recorded within the first hours of your life (in case you didn't know that). We now use measurement and the tools to perform different types of measurement in everyday situations. We measure water to boil for our oatmeal or rice. We measure our foot before we buy some new shoes. What other examples can you think of? Often we need to know how long an object is or how far away something is. Sometimes we need to know how much [|matter] is in an object. To measure these **__physical properties__** we use different tools and units.

1. Length:
Most of us know how to use the ruler, meter stick and/or a tape measure to determine the length, height or width of an object and when we multiply these three sides of a regular 3-D object we find the Volume of the object. Volume will be discussed on a different page, but we want you to remember that you can use a ruler to solve for the volume of an object. Here is a song by a jolly good science teacher to help you remember. Enjoy! media type="youtube" key="A2WsSHf96sQ" height="315" width="420"

We measure the __**mass**__ of an object with this...a triple beam scale. Note the steps, (process) to calculating the mass of an object:

media type="youtube" key="9_9gu_7Tz8A" height="315" width="420" It is equally important to **__know the parts of the tools__** we work with. Watch this video and make sure you are **confident** in the [|terminology.] media type="youtube" key="7owgU_xlkes" height="315" width="420"

Why is it called a triple beam balance?