The world’s tallest man is

8ft 1in or 2.47m.

Click here to watch the

video of the world’s tallest man visiting

London recently.

The world’s tallest man is

8ft 1in or 2.47m.

Would he be able to stand

up in your classroom?

Or in the corridor

outside your room?

The world’s tallest man is 8ft

1in or 2.47m.How tall are you?A London bus is

4.38m.A black taxi is

1.765m. Put these four

heights in order of size – then draw a scale

diagram showing the relative

heights.

The world’s tallest man has

hands that measure

27.5cm and his feet are 36.5cm.

How big are your hands and feet? How can you show this information?

Up2d8 mathsTall Story

Teacher Notes

Tall Story

Introduction: The world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen from Turkey, has been named by Guinness World Records for the launch of their 2010 book. SultanKosen is 2.47m tall and is 10cm taller than the previous title holder. This resource invites pupils to consider the height of the world’s tallest manin relation to their own height and other measurements.

Content objectives: This context provides the opportunity for teachers and students to explore a number of objectives. You could:• choose and use appropriate units and tools, interpreting, with appropriate accuracy, numbers on a range of measuring instruments• make sensible estimates of a range of measures in relation to everyday situations• identify the mathematical features of a context or problem; try out and compare mathematical representations; select appropriate

procedures and tools, including ICT.

Process objectives: These will depend on the amount of freedom you allow your class with the activity. It might be worth considering how you’re going to deliver theactivity and highlighting the processes that this will allow on the diagram below:

Activity: This activity gives pupils the opportunity to explore linear measurements and scale drawings using the context of the world’s tallestman. Students are shown the recent BBC News video of the visit by the world’s tallest man (who has been chosen by the Guinness Book ofRecords to launch their 2010 edition) to London. They are asked to consider what would happen if he visited their classroom or their schoolcould he stand up? Students then have the opportunity to compare their own height to that of the world’s tallest man alongside two iconicLondon images, the double-decker bus and the black cab, using a scale drawing. Finally, students have the opportunity to compare the sizes oftheir hands and feet with those of the world’s tallest man. (The hand size is measured from the base of the palm to the end of the middle finger).

Differentiation: You may decide to change the level of challenge for your group. To make the task easier you could consider:• measuring and marking the actual height of the world’s tallest man in the classroom or corridor• measuring and marking the actual heights of the double-decker bus, black cab and selected pupils in the classroom or corridorTo make the task more complex, you could consider:• choosing a scale which maximises the size of their page• choosing two different scales to make the world’s tallest man’s height seem a) much taller than the pupils’, and b) very close to the pupils’

and decide upon an appropriate audience for each drawing• comparing the hand and feet sizes with other objects• designing a car or a chair for the world’s tallest man.This resource is designed to be adapted to your requirements.

Outcomes: You may want to consider what the outcome of the task will be and share this with students according to their ability. This couldinclude:• a poster showing comparative sizes by scale drawings• each group could present their findings to the rest of the class• a letter to a clothing manufacturer explaining how much bigger the clothes for the world’s tallest man would need to be in comparison to

their own• a letter to a car manufacturer or furniture maker giving details of the necessary measurements of their product.

Working in groups: This activity lends itself to paired or small group work and, by encouraging students to work collaboratively, it is likely thatyou will allow them access to more of the key processes than if they were to work individually. You will need to think about how your class will work on this task. Will they work in pairs, threes or larger groups? If pupils are not used toworking in groups in mathematics, you may wish to spend some time talking about their rules and procedures to maximise the effectiveness andengagement of pupils in group work (You may wish to look at the SNS Pedagogy and practice pack Unit 10: Guidance for groupwork). You maywish to encourage the groups to delegate different areas of responsibility to specific group members.

Assessment: You may wish to consider how you will assess the task and how you will record your assessment. This could include developingthe assessment criteria with your class. You might choose to focus on the content objectives or on the process objectives. You might decide

thatthis activity lends itself to comment only marking or to student self-assessment. If you decide that the outcome is to be a presentation or aposter, then you may find that this lends itself to peer assessment

Probing questions: Initially students could brainstorm issues to consider. You may wish to introduce some points into the discussion, which

might include:• what are some of the problems that the world’s tallest man might have, practically and emotionally?• how would you feel if you were that tall?• what questions would you want to ask the world’s tallest man?.• is the world’s tallest man proportionally taller than somebody of average height? How do you make that decision? How many times taller

might he be?• how will you represent the height on paper? What scale will you use?

You will need: • a tape measure or metre rule; rulers. • the PowerPoint presentation. There are four slides:

The first slide sets the scene and describes the visit of the world’s tallest man to London.

The second slide invites pupils to ‘see’ the world’s tallest man in their classroom or school.

The third slide asks pupils to draw a scale diagram of the world’s tallest man, a double-decker bus, a taxi and themselves.

The last slide asks pupils to consider the sizes of their hands and feet compared to those of the world’s tallest man.