Video Transcript
Look at the ruler. One meter equals 100
centimeters. How many centimeters are in three
meters? Three meters equals what
centimeters.
To begin within this question,
we’re told to look at the picture of the ruler. So, we better start by doing
that. What can we see? Looks a little bit like a number
line, doesn’t it? It starts at zero. And we can see each multiple of 10
is labeled: 10, 20, 30, and so on all the way up to 100. Now if we look at the start of the
ruler, we can see the letters cm. This shows us the unit of
measurement that our ruler shows. cm stands for centimeters. And so when we’re counting 10, 20,
30, and so on, we’re counting in centimeters. This ruler goes from zero to 100
centimeters.
But there’s something else
interesting about our ruler. Can you spot it? At the other end of the ruler,
there’s an arrow labeled one m. So if we count all the way up to
100 centimeters, it’s the same as one m. Do you know what one m stands
for? Of course, we’re told in the fact
above the ruler, aren’t we? One meter. One meter is the same as 100
centimeters, and our ruler helps to show this. Now, if one meter is the same as
100 centimeters, we can use this to help answer our question “How many centimeters
are in three meters?” Let’s use a bar model to help
us.
If we know one meter is the same as
100 centimeters, then two meters must be the same as two lots of 100 centimeters or
200 centimeters. And so to answer our question,
three meters will be the same as three lots of 100 centimeters or 300
centimeters. The number of centimeters that are
in three meters is 300. Three meters equals 300
centimeters.
