If you traveled this holiday weekend, you probably noticed all kinds of road signs. Turns out the letters on those signs are WAY bigger than you think, because they’re high above our heads and far away. Your cute little STOP sign at the corner is actually a 2 1/2-foot tall octagon, almost half the height of a grown-up. On big green highway signs, the blue and red interstate number is bigger than that whole stop sign — and the letters and numbers are just as tall as you!
Wee ones: A STOP sign is octagon-shaped: it has a top and bottom, a left side and right side, and 4 angled sides where a square would have corners. How many sides is that?
Little kids: The letters on a STOP sign are about 10 inches tall. If your hand is 5 inches long, how much taller are those letters? Bonus: If there’s a STOP sign at 2nd Avenue, then 4th Ave, then 6th Ave….where do you think you’ll see a stop sign next?
Big kids: In the photo, that little red, white and blue highway number shield is 3 feet tall! If the sign is 4 times as tall as that plus 2 more feet, how tall is the whole sign? Bonus: If those interstate highway numbers are exactly 3 feet tall, how does that stack up against your height? (Reminder if needed: 1 foot has 12 inches).
Answers:
Wee ones: 8 sides.
Little kids: 5 inches. Bonus: At 8th Ave.
Big kids: 14 feet tall. Bonus: Different for everyone…subtract 3 feet from the “foot” part of your height in feet and inches, or you can subtract 3 x 12 (which equals 36) from your height in inches.
