I’ve seen this game of Telephone played out in my cell biology class, but to a greater degree.
Square units? Far too easy. Our first lab in cell biology is about observing cells and then doing a bunch of unit conversions — but we’re working with volumes and cubic units. For instance, we look at a sample of microorganisms taken from a local lake, and they calculate the density and size of cells, and have to estimate how many cells are in the lake and the volume they take up. I hate to tell you this, but our lake either contains one gigantic cell that fills the entire thing, or is a thick soup containing 10googolplex cells…mmmm, sounds tasty and nutritious.