Name: Sydney Linton Date: 8/26/22
Student Guide: Unit Conversions
Vocabulary: base unit, cancel, conversion factor, dimensional analysis, metric system, prefix,
scientific notation
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
Sara lives in Toronto, Canada, while her cousin Michael lives in Detroit, Michigan. They like to
compare how fast they are growing up.
1. Sara tells Michael she is 160 centimeters tall, while Michael says he is 60 inches tall. If there
are 2.54 centimeters in an inch, who is taller?
Sara
2. Michael tells Sara he weighs 104 pounds. Sara says she is 44 kilograms. If there are 2.2
pounds in a kilogram, who is heavier?
Michael
Gizmo Warm-up
As you could see from the questions above, there are
different ways to measure the same quantity. Every
measurement includes both a number and a unit.
There are many, many different units you can use to
measure the same attribute, such as height, weight, or
volume. The Unit Conversions Gizmo shows you how
you can convert from one unit to another in order to
compare measurements.
1. To begin, check that this question is shown: The tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa
in Dubai, is 0.828 kilometers high. What is the building’s height in centimeters? (If this is not
the question you see, click Next until it appears.)
A. What unit is given in the question?
kilometers
B. What unit is asked for?
centimeters
2. Look for the Unit Conversion Tile that has the unit “meter” on top and “kilometer” on the
bottom. This tile shows a conversion factor, or a ratio that compares two equivalent values.
A. According to this tile, how many meters are in a kilometer?
1000
B. Look at the tile next to it. How many centimeters are in a meter?
100
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Activity A:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Dimensional
Check that the question is still about Burj Khalifa.
analysis
Goal: Use dimensional analysis to solve conversion problems.
1. Observe: In the question, you are asked to convert kilometers to centimeters. To do this,
first you will convert kilometers to meters. Drag the 1000 meters/1 kilometer tile down.
A. What do you notice?
The ‘kilometers’ is crossed out and is converted to meters.
B. Because kilometers appear in the numerator of one term and in the denominator of
another, they cancel, or disappear. The process of converting units by canceling is
called dimensional analysis.
How many meters are in 0.828 kilometers?
828
C. A meter is a much shorter unit of measurement than a kilometer. Based on this fact,
does your answer to B make sense?
yes
2. Identify: Now find a tile that converts meters to centimeters. Drag it down next to the first.
A. What units cancel now?
meters
B. What is the unit in the answer?
centimeters
C. How many centimeters tall is the Burj Khalifa?
82,800
D. Click Submit. Is this answer correct?
Yes
3. Find: Click Next. What conversion tile can you use to solve this problem?
Micrometers/millimeter
4. Analyze: Drag this tile to the green strip. Turn on Show results.
A. What units are given to the right of the equals sign?
121,000 micrometer^2/millimeter
B. Why didn’t the units cancel in this case?
Because the units are getting bigger, not smaller.
C. What do you think you could do to make them cancel?
Millimeter/micrometer
(Activity A continued on next page)
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Activity A (continued from previous page)
5. Observe: Click Flip tile.
A. What unit is given now?
micrometers
B. Click Submit. How many millimeters wide is a human egg cell?
0.121
6. Practice: Turn off Show result. Make sure Metric units only and Distance are selected.
Click Next, and use what you’ve learned to solve another unit conversion problem. For each
problem, list the units given, the units asked for, and the solution.
A. On a caterpillar’s map, all distances are marked in millimeters. The caterpillar’s map
shows that the distance between two milkweed plants is 4,012 millimeters. What is
this distance in kilometers?
Given unit: millimeters Answer unit: kilometers Solution: 0.004012 km
B. The closest star to our Sun is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.242 light years away.
What is the distance to Proxima Centauri in kilometers?
Given unit: light years Answer unit: km Solution: 4.013 * 10^13 km
C. A helium atom has a diameter of approximately 9.8 • 10-11 meters. What is the diam-
eter of a helium atom in nanometers?
Given unit: meters Answer unit: nanometers Solution: 0.098
nanometers
7. On your own: A blue whale has a length of 28,578 millimeters. What is the length of a blue
whale in kilometers? Show your work below by writing the conversion factors you use to
solve this question.
28,578 mm • 1cm/10mm • 1km/100000cm = 0.02857
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Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:
Check that Metric units only and Distance is still
Metric units
selected.
Introduction: During the Warm-up activity, you learned that 1,000 meters equals 1 kilometer.
Both of these units are part of the metric system, a measurement system based on powers of
10. No matter what quantity you are working with, converting between metric units will involve
multiplying by a power of 10.
Goal: Convert from one metric unit to another.
1. Infer: The metric system uses prefixes to tell you how much to multiply the base unit by.
For example, in the metric system, the base unit for length is the meter. Examples of pre-
fixes include kilo-, centi-, and milli-.
Knowing that 1,000 meters are in 1 kilometer, what do you think the prefix kilo- means?
thousand
2. Analyze: Use the Unit Conversion Tiles to help you determine the meaning of the following
metric prefixes. The first row has been completed for you.
Prefix Meaning
kilo- Multiply base unit by 1,000
centi- Multiply base by 100
milli- Multiply base by 10
micro- Multiply base by 1000
nano- Multiply base by 1000
3. Create: Knowing the meaning of metric system prefixes can help you write your own conver-
sion factors. In the metric system, the base unit for mass is the gram. What do you think the
conversion factor for gram-to-kilograms would be?
1000 grams
1 kilograms
Select Mass on the Conversion dropdown menu to check your answer.
(Activity B continued on next page)
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Activity B (continued from previous page)
4. On Your Own: Use the gram-to-kilograms conversion tile to answer the first question about
the rock’s mass. Turn on Show result to check your calculation. Then, click Submit. Con-
tinue until you’ve answered all of the Mass questions. The Gizmo will keep track of how
many problems you solve.
5. On Your Own: Check that Metric units only is selected. Continue using the Gizmo to solve
the Time and Volume problems. Note: While common time units (minutes, hours, days) are
acceptable to use in the metric system, they are not a part of the metric system.
6. Observe: Up until now, all the problems you have solved have involved converting only one
unit. However, some conversion problems require you to convert two or more units. Select
Speed from the menu. What two units do you need to convert to solve this problem?
Meters per second
7. Think about it: How do you think you can use conversion factors to solve this problem?
Do the conversions separately.
8. Solve: Turn on Show result. Drag the seconds-to-hour tile to the green bar.
A. How many meters per hour did Marcia run?
12,600 m/hr
B. Drag the kilometer-to-meters tile to the green bar. If these aren’t the units you want,
click Flip tile. What unit is given now?
Km/hr
C. Click Submit. How many kilometers per hour did Marcia run?
12.6 km/hr
9. Practice: Turn off Show result. Click Next, and use what you’ve learned to solve another
speed conversion problem. After you have completed all the speed problems, try solving the
density problems. The Gizmo will keep track of how many problems you solve.
If you are stuck, try converting the unit in the numerator first. Then, convert the unit in the
denominator.
10. Challenge: Select Random from the Conversion menu. You can solve as many problems
as you like. Some problems will only require you to convert one unit. Others will require you
to convert two units. Good luck!
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