Cintronella Jones catches a man making counterfeit meter sticks and arrests him because he is violating measurement standards. Later, a girl indicates that a meter is standardized across different countries in the world and even on the moon.

Beakman explains the history behind the creation of measurements. He mentions that King Edward II declared that all measurements would be universal and that he created the inch by putting three barley seeds end to end. Through this process, he created standarized measurement. Beakman explains how to get an approximate measurement of something large by using its shadow and the shadow of the measuring stick.

When an important package is passed on to Homer, he delivers it to Mr. Burns, the sender of the package. Mr. Burns then releases a disappointing booby trap; he is not well-versed in the metric system.

A trip to the local clock shop reminds everyone in Huckle's class how important clocks are for our everyday lives.

Bill introduces the ancestor of the modern clock: the sundial. He illustrates how it uses shadows to indicate the time of day and explains how it influenced the clock. A time lapse then shows how the sundial and clock are in sync as the hours go by during the day.