  We discuss how the likely 2018 redefinition of the SI system of units might
affect the ability of students to understand the link between the units and the
new system. The likely redefinition will no longer define a set of base units,
but rather a set of constants of nature, such as the speed of light c and a
particular hyperfine splitting in Cs $\Delta\nu(^{133}$Cs)$_{hfs}$. We point
out that this list of constants need not be the only way to introduce students
to the subject, either in class or in textbooks. We suggest an alternative way
to introduce high school and undergraduate students to the redefined SI, by
suggesting a list of experiments for some units; this list would be completely
compatible with the redefined SI, and would have all of the same scientific and
technological advantages. We demonstrate by questionnaire results that this
alternative is more appealing to students. We hope to spur a discussion amongst
teachers regarding this important topic for high school and undergraduate
physics courses.
