If there is a millipede and a centipede, shouldn’t there be a decipede? And how would you measure it?
I’ll tell you how: using this R316-30 metric ruler that has decimeters!
Thank you, Wescott, for fulfilling my dream of using a decimeter stick.
Certificate of Occupancy
12 Apr 2018 Leave a comment
in 368K, Brooklyn, Useful Information Tags: 1958, certificate of occupancy
From 1958 comes this Certificate of Occupancy statement. Every school had one posted somewhere.
Notice the different quotas for males versus females in shop classes versus in home economics!
It is amazing to think that for 60 years this particular document has not been touched….
Here are close-ups.
Gray vs Grey
13 Feb 2018 Leave a comment
in art, district office, Useful Information Tags: featured, Google, gray, grey, image search
As a follow up my Black and White vs White and Black Google image search comparison, I decided to do a “gray vs grey” Google image search comparison. Here are the results:
Gray
Search filters that showed up include:
- silver
- titanium
- pewter
- aesthetic
- charcoal
- metallic;
- dark; and
- transparent.
I spy “Whistler’s Mother.”
Compare this to a search for “grey” (the British spelling of the word):
Search filters that showed up include:
- charcoal
- shades
- solid
- ash
- metallic
- aesthetic
- steel; and
- medium.
I spy a wolf.
Try this comparison yourself, and tell me what filters you found.
Black and White and Black
01 Dec 2017 1 Comment
in art, district office, Useful Information Tags: black, featured, Google, white
I was thinking about Google searches. I searched for “Black and White” and “White and Black.” Look at the different suggestions? filters? that Google adds to the search bar.
“Black and White” image filters:
- woman
- baby
- snapchat
- trippy
- photoshoot
- cityscape
- reflection
- etc
“White and Black” image filters
- abstract
- love
- romantic
- clipart
- rose
- radha krishna
- pattern
- background
- etc
There was some overlap in the images, though.
Useful Information, Chart 5
06 Jul 2017 Leave a comment
in Useful Information Tags: area, capacity, cubic, decimals, distance, fractions, length, liquid, mass, metric, multiplication, percents, surface, temperature, time, volume, weight
Product: Tops Marble Composition Book, 7.5 X 9.75 Inches, College Rule, 100 Sheets, White (63796)
Sold by: Tops Products
Cost: out of stock everywhere
I saw this composition book for sale for $8.00. Crazy right? Except this chart really does happen to have Useful Information. It has fractions (and decimals and percents). And temperature conversion. And is written in clear English. For example, under Metric Unit Conversion, the column reads “When You Know: ________ Multiply By: ________ To Find: ________”.
What I do not see are roods (square measure), scruples (Apothecaries’ weight), reams (paper measure), grains (troy weight), or knots (miscellaneous measures). It is also the only chart to include “mass.”
Hidden Highlights
- 1 hectare = 2.471 acres
- To write a decimal for a percent, move the decimal point two places to the left. Omit the percent sign;
- To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit: mutiply by 9, divide by 5 and then add 32.
Categories
Metric Unit Conversions (Length and Distance; Surface or Area; Volume and Capacity [Liquid]; Weight and Mass; Termperature)
Fractions
Decimals and Percents
Multiplication Chart
Useful Information, Chart 4
06 Jul 2017 Leave a comment
in Useful Information Tags: apothecaries', avoirdupois, capacity, circular, conversion tables, cubic, dry, length, linear, liquid, metric, miscelleneous, multiplication, paper, surface, time, troy, weight
Product: Staples Graph Composition Book, 9.75 X 7.5 Graph Paper Notebook, Black (not marbled – ed)
Sold by: Staples
cost: $2.00
This Useful Information chart is on the inside back cover of a graph paper composition notebook. The cover is not the typical marble design. Right away I see some cool icons and graphics…the other Useful Information charts 1-3 have only text. Also, this one has a 3-inch ruler! The content is much the same as chart 2.
Hidden Highlights
- an acre measures ~209 feet on each side
- A perch of stone is 16 1/2 feet long, by 1 1/2 feet wide, by 1 foot high. (I would call this a low wall, but what do I know?)
Categories
Conversion Tables (length, capacity, weight; metric to American standard)
Multiplication Table
Table of Time Measure
Table of Dry Measure
Table of Liquid Measure
Table of Paper Measure
Table of Linear Measure
Miscellaneous Measures
Table of Cubic Measure
Table of Avoirdupois Weight (pounds and ounces: what we use in America)
Table of Troy Weight (for gold, silver, precious metals)
Table of Circular Measure
Table of Apothecaries’ Weight (for medicines)
Table of Surface Measure (as opposed to Square measure)
Useful Information, Chart 3
06 Jul 2017 Leave a comment
in Useful Information Tags: apothecaries' fluid, avoirdupois, circular, cubic, linear, liquid, miscelleneous, multiplication, square
Product: School Smart Flexible Cover Skip-A-Line Marble Patten Composition Book, Grade 3, 9-3/4 x 7-1/2 in, 100 Pages, Red
Sold by: Classroom Direct
Cost: $1.87
This product is made for 3rd graders (for some reason), so presumably the Useful Information will be especially useful for 8-year-olds. I am hoping that it will list the number of marbles that can fit into a pocket (29); the average weight of a frog (depends: if it is the pee pee kind, then really light weight); or number of pices of gum that can be jammed into a mouth (no upper limit).
Hidden Highlights:
- 1 cubic foot of water weighs approximately 62.5 pounds;
- The ton and hundredweight …are… in common use in the United States.
Categories
Liquid Measure
Cubic Measure
Avoirdupois Weight
Miscellaneous
Square Measure (as opposed to Surface Measure)
Linear Measure
Circular Measure
Apothecaries’ Fluid Measure
Multiplication Table
Useful Information, Chart 2
06 Jul 2017 Leave a comment
in Useful Information Tags: apothecaries', avoirdupois, capacity, circular, conversion tables, cubic, dry, length, linear, liquid, metric, miscelleneous, paper, surface, time, troy, weight
Product: School Smart Hard Cover Marbleback Composition Book
Sold by: Walmart
Cost: $1.87
This is the inside back cover of the composition book. There is another Useful Information chart on the outside cover of this notebook, with different information. It appears as if it was written by a different author.
Hidden Highlights:
- Table of Paper Measure (24 sheets = 1 quire);
- Miles in a Township (36 square);
- Miscellaneous Measures (a bushel of potatoes = 60 lbs)
Categories
Conversion Tables (length, capacity, weight; metric to American standard)
Multiplication Table
Table of Time Measure
Table of Dry Measure
Table of Liquid Measure
Table of Paper Measure
Table of Linear Measure
Miscellaneous Measures
Table of Cubic Measure
Table of Avoirdupois Weight (pounds and ounces: what we use in America)
Table of Troy Weight (for gold, silver, precious metals)
Table of Circular Measure
Table of Apothecaries’ Weight (for medicines)
Table of Surface Measure (as opposed to Square Measure)
Useful Information, Chart 1
06 Jul 2017 Leave a comment
in Useful Information Tags: apothecaries' fluid, avoirdupois, cubic, linear, liquid, measure, miscelleneous, multiplication, square, weight
Product: School Smart Hard Cover Marbleback Composition Book
Sold by Walmart for $1.87
This chart is on the outside back cover. What is interesting is that the book has another Useful Information chart on the inside back cover, just in case one wasn’t enough. I would guess that about 90% of the information is the same in both charts, though there are differences. You may notice that there are no metric-to-metric or metric-to-U.S. standard conversion tables.
Hidden Highlights:
- A cord of wood is equivelent to a pile 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet high;
- 6 feet = 1 fathom;
- 1 acre = 160 square rods;
- 40 square rods (i.e., 1/4 acre) = 1 rood; therefore
- 1 acre = 4 roods
Categories
Liquid Measure
Cubic Measure
Avoirdupois Weight
Miscellaneous
Square Measure (as opposed to Surface Measure)
Linear Measure
Circular Measure
Apothecaries’ Fluid Measure
Multiplication Table
Useful Information
06 Jul 2017 1 Comment
in Useful Information Tags: conversion tables, math, measurement
From their youngest days, students will be exposed to a plethora of information, some good, some bad, some pointless.
And then there is information that is so important, so useful, that children are exposed to it all day, every day. Yet they never really notice. I am refering to the Useful Information charts that appear on the backs or insides of composition notebooks.
Although most of the tables and charts show math-related data — Multiplication Tables, Metric Conversion Tables, etc., — there are some differences between charts and occasionally some truly obscure gold.
In this six-part series, I will compare different Useful Information charts and try to find unique features and otherwise uncommon nuggets of info.
