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Learn Metric System by Using It features Photos by L. Omans The best way to become familiar with the metric system is to use it, and providing an opportunity to take metric measurements of familiar equipment is the way members of the San Jose, Calif., Fire Department received their introduction to the metric system. We followed the advice of the California Metric Committee in its “Guidelines for Metric Education” to “think metric” and recognize the fact that “learning to think metric is best accomplished through active experience with instruments and materials.” The committee pointed out, “It is not at all necessary to convert from the United States customary system to the metric system.” For those who look for comparisons in learning the metric system, a meter is a little more than a yard, a liter is slightly more than a quart, a kilogram is a bit heavier than two pound…