Math
Lesson Plan

As High as Mt. Everest

Learning Objective:
Construct a simple scale drawing for a given situation.

Teacher Directions:
At 29,035 feet, Mt. Everest is just one of many tall peaks in the Himalayas. Here are some others:

Cho Polu	21,965 ft.
Gokyo Ri	17,519 ft.
Makalu	27,765 ft.
Nun Kun	23,410 ft.

Here are the altitudes of some other famous tall peaks:

Mt. McKinley	20,320 ft.
Mt. Logan	19,550 ft.
Mt. Kilimanjaro	19,340 ft.
Mt. Rainier	14,411 ft.

Here are some heights of other famous landmarks:

Statue of Liberty	305 ft.
Sears Tower	1,450 ft.
Eiffel Tower	984 ft.

To get a better understanding of just how tall Mt. Everest is, it would be good to see a visual model comparing it to some of these other tall peaks and landmarks. How could you create such a model? You might want to think about the following questions:

Let’s get started. First, get a piece of graph paper. Decide how many feet each vertical unit should represent. You may need to use a "guess and check" approach. For instance, if each unit represented 100, 500 or 1,000 ft., would you be able to fit both the shortest and the tallest peak or landmark on the sheet of paper? Once you have decided, label the units on the left side of the graph paper vertically. Along the bottom of the graph, label each peak or landmark horizontally. Now, mark the height of each peak or landmark above its coordinating label.

Once completed, ask yourself the following questions:

Resources:
America’s Roof
Ask Jeeves for Kids
Peakware World Mountain Encyclopedia

Activity Sheet:
graph paper

Assessment:
Math Assessment Sheet*