[intro music]

Jessi: Hi guys, I'm Jessi and this is SciShow Kids.... Wait, we have a call coming in! It must be the giant squid!

Squid: Hi Jessi.

Jessi: Hey Squid, what are you up to? 

Squid: Well, I was just thinking about coming to visit you and Squeak, so I looked at the Google map and it says that you guys live almost 3,000 miles away.

Jessi: Yeah, that's right.

Squid: Okay, but so.... what's a mile?

Jessi: Oh, well a mile is a unit of measurement. It's how people in the country where I live measure the distance between two points.

Squid: Oh, you mean like a kilometer? 

Jessi: Exactly! A mile and a kilometer are both ways to measure distance.

Squid: So wait. How come there are two ways to measure the same thing? 

Jessi: Well, actually it's because miles and kilometers are each part of two different systems of measurement. It is just like how there are different languages. Some people say hello, and others say hola or bonjour, all of them are just ways to say hello. Just like miles and kilometers are both ways to measure distance. 

So just like there are different languages, some countries have different systems of measurement. Here, in the United States, we use what's called the Imperial System to measure distances in inches, feet, and miles.

Squid: Mmm. Feet sounds like a pretty human-centric way to measure distance. What about me in the ocean? Should I be measuring my distances in tentacles?

Jessi: Well actually, it sounds like you're already pretty familiar with the other major system of measurement. It's called the Metric System, or International System, and if you measure things that way, then distances are measured in centimeters, meters, and kilometers.

Squid: Oh yeah, I know those! That's how my mom would measure me as I was growing up. Or out. 

Jessi: That's right! The Metric System is the most popular system of measurement, and it's used in almost every country on Earth. And even though it's not the official system of measurement in the United States, it's often used by scientists and doctors. And you can find it other places, too. At the store, for example. If you get a big bottle of soda at the supermarket, it might come in a two liter bottle. Liters are a way to measure liquid with the Metric System, but if you just get a small can of soda, it contains twelve ounces, and ounces are a way to measure the amount of liquid where I live.

Squid: Hey, uh, Jessi, I don't think you should drink that much soda. It's not good for you. You should drink more water. I live in the water. I drink it all the time. It's great!

Jessi: Good advice, Squid. Now that you've learned a little bit about how people measure things, are you going to come visit us?

Squid: Oh, it depends. What's the food like there? Do you guys have toast? Cinnamon toast?

Jessi: Toast. Thanks for learning about units of measurement with us. See you next time.

Squid: Bye!

[outro music plays]