Dradnats and the SI Metric Measurement Kids

Enter the Land of Metrica where the SI Metric Kids go on a water adventure that leaves them with a huge problem. They embark on their journey the same day the water department prepares to drain all the water in the river to prepare for a more modern water facility and a dam. They had no idea! Unfortunately, this leaves them marooned in an unknown territory where the ogre, Dradnats, lives. The SI Metric Measurement Kids belong to three families: Mr. and Mrs. Meter, Mr. and Mrs. Liter, and Mr. and Mrs. Gram. Each family has the same names for their daughters: Milli, Centi, and Deci. They have the same names for their sons: Deka, Hecto, and Kilo. This makes eighteen kids facing the daunting task of how to get back to their parents and escape Dradnats! The Millis are the first to tackle the problem. They put a milliliter of water and a milligram of sand under their raft hoping to propel their boat across the sun-baked river bottom. The vessel moves forward a millimeter. Each set of cousins finds more water and more sand, but the raft just won't go far enough! One set of brothers finally solves the problem but just in the nick of time. Dradnats, the ogre, is running toward all of them eager to bring them back to his cave! We, in the United States, are now finding so many products that show SI metric measurements of the meter, liter, and gram. We see the variations (such as mm, cg, dL to name a few). Many of our industries here in the U.S. are using SI for trade/commerce. Yet, most adults and children do not have a full understanding of what these abbreviations mean. With each prefix either increasing 10X or getting 10X smaller, the reader will soon discover how this pattern makes the understanding of the prefixes and conversions in this measurement system so much easier. This book has it all. There is a story which is very easy to remember and two charts which greatly help remembering the prefixes and how to convert. Lots of activities and guided practice are provided -- starting with very easy problems and graduating to harder ones. The author has taken much time on the printed page to give step by step directions all the way in making sure one can memorize all the parts to the meter, liter, and gram, and tackle conversions very easily. About 95% of the world has changed over completely or partially to the System of International Units (SI). This is their preferred system of measurement. Yet, we ,in the United States, do not have SI as our preferred measurement system. We continue to use Standard/Customary. Although the meter, liter, and gram are just a subset of the larger measurement system of SI, the author believes that knowing about the meter, liter, and gram is a good place to start; hence, the focus of this book is just on the three. There is no children's book out there that shows the concept of a family with the proportions CORRECTLY stated. The author mentions several times that big brother, Kilo, is a million times bigger than his smallest sister, Milli. This presented a problem to the author -- how can an ogre (or person for that matter) SEE all of them if they are a million times different in size? But, the author solved the problem. The illustrations are done by a most talented artist and add so much to the story and the activities/problems. Visit www.rivard.art to see some of her amazing illustrations. Every day, no matter what our age, we should learn something. This is your chance to learn all about the meter, the liter, and the gram!

Linda Dawson was an elementary school teacher for 31 years. She received her B.S. in 1971 and her M.S. in 1981. She worked with fourth and fifth grade students 29 of those 31 years. She was around in the mid-seventies attending workshops when the U.S. was thinking about converting to SI. Eventually, there were conversion problems added to state tests. What was troubling to her was that no math text taught all the units to the meter, liter, and gram. Also, the content did not seem to emphasize the power of ten pattern. The difference between the units are based on powers of ten -- each being 10 X bigger or 10 X smaller. This pattern makes conversions so much easier! Thus, she wrote this book that hopes to fill that void. Her illustrator was Lisa Rivard. Visit this extraordinary illustrator's website at www.rivardart.com