1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Measurement & Data
CCSS.Math.Content.4.MD.A.1 Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table. For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36), ...
CCSS.Math.Content.4.MD.A.2 Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams such as number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.

2. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?
© Gavin Hellier/Alamy
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?
London’s skyline provides many opportunities for dramatic photos, but it’s only fitting to capture the view looking directly through the London Eye. The Eye has had various sponsors attached to its name. Most recently, it’s the EDF Energy London Eye, though many remember it as the Millennium Wheel, since it opened for business in early 2000.
And that business is taking as many as 25 passengers for a ride in each of its 32 capsules. The wheel rotates slowly over the course of 30 minutes, allowing for a fair view of the city from 443 feet above ground, all inside the cozy, rainproof, air-conditioned capsule.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?1
Thinking
What are some different units we use to talk about height? The height of buildings? Our own heights? The height of a stapler? 2
Besides feet, what units would be appropriate to describe the height of the London Eye? What units would not be appropriate? 3
Web Search/
How could you express the height of the London Eye in inches? Create an equation to do this conversion. 4
How could you express the height of the London Eye in yards? Create an equation to do this conversion. 5
How could you express the height of the London Eye in meters? Create an equation to do this conversion.
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?1
Thinking
What are some different units we use to talk about height? The height of buildings? Our own heights? The height of a stapler? 2
Besides feet, what units would be appropriate to describe the height of the London Eye? What units would not be appropriate? 3
Web Search/
How could you express the height of the London Eye in inches? Create an equation to do this conversion. 4
How could you express the height of the London Eye in yards? Create an equation to do this conversion. 5
How could you express the height of the London Eye in meters? Create an equation to do this conversion.
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?1
Thinking
What are some different units we use to talk about height? The height of buildings? Our own heights? The height of a stapler?
Students should begin by brainstorming how we usually talk about heights. They should note the different units that come up in daily life. For example, they can think about how their own heights are usually expressed in feet and inches. They may think about how the heights of buildings are often described in feet, or by the number of stories or floors. They should think about how small objects, like staplers, might be described using centimeters or inches.

8. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?2
Thinking
Besides feet, what units would be appropriate to describe the height of the London Eye? What units would not be appropriate?
This is an opportunity for students to begin conceptualizing different heights and the units that are appropriate to describe them. If it helps to get a sense of the size of different units first, they can think about common ones they know. For example, would they want to describe the distance from their house to school in centimeters? Why or why not? Would they want to express the distance from their desk to the teacher’s desk in miles? Why or why not? We know that the London Eye is 443 feet above ground. They should then brainstorm units besides feet that could work to describe it (for example, yards, meters, inches, etc…) and also units that seem too large or small to be appropriate (for example, miles, kilometers, millimeters).

9. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?3
Web Search/Thinking
How could you express the height of the London Eye in inches? Create an equation to do this conversion.
(Possible queries: “how many inches are in a foot”, “converting feet to inches”, “how to convert feet to inches”)
From
There are 12 inches in 1 foot. We know the London Eye is 443 feet above ground, so we would need to multiply this number by 12 to find how many inches above ground it is. The equation would be as follows:
12 inches x 443 feet = x
x = 5,316 inches
Students can solve the equation by hand or by using the Bing Search Bar as a Calculator.

10. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?4
Web Search/
Thinking
How could you express the height of the London Eye in yards? Create an equation to do this conversion.
(Possible queries: “how many feet are in a yard?”, “converting feet to yards”, “how to convert feet to yards”)
From
There are 3 feet in 1 yard.
We know the London Eye is 443 feet above ground, so we would need to divide this number by 3 to find how many yards above ground it is. The equation would be as follows:
443 feet / 3 = x
X = yards
Students can solve the equation by hand or by using the Bing Search Bar as a Calculator.

11. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?5
Web Search/
Thinking
How could you express the height of the London Eye in meters? Create an equation to do this conversion.
(Possible queries: “how many feet are in a meter?”, “converting feet to meters, “how to convert feet to meters”)
From
1 meter = 3.28 feet
We know the London Eye is 443 feet above ground, so we would need to divide this number by to find how many yards above ground it is. The equation would be as follows:
443 feet / = x
x = meters
Students can solve the equation by hand or by using the Bing Search Bar as a Calculator.

12. What are three different ways to represent the height of the London Eye?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question. Answers may vary, but most likely students will pull together the work they’ve done to express this height in inches, yards, and meters. (If they choose however, they could also convert this amount to other units including centimeters or fractions of a mile. They could also use units they develop, for example, “how many average-sized fourth graders would equal the height of the London Eye? How many pieces of paper on top of each other?”).
If using inches, yards and meters, they should find that the height of the London Eye could be expressed as 443 feet, 5,316 inches, yards, or meters (approximately).