The Statue of Liberty is famous around the world. The tall, beautiful green statue standing in New York Harbor is easy to spot, because she’s huge. She stands 151 feet tall from base to torch, and it takes 354 stairs to climb to the top. Even just the Statue’s feet are 25 feet long – that’s a size 879 sandal! If you’re 4 feet tall, you’re about the length of her big toe; if you’re only 3 feet tall, you’re her pinky toe. There’s no way the two of you are sharing shoes!
Wee ones: Look at your hand, and hold it up against your foot. Which one is longer?
Little kids: If the Statue’s foot is 25 feet long, and your car is 15 feet long, which one is longer? Bonus: If you needed 2 buckets of paint to paint each of her toenails, how many buckets would you need to paint all 10?
Big kids: If you wear a size 4 shoe, how many shoe sizes bigger is the Statue’s size-879 foot? Bonus: If you run up her 354 steps 2 at a time (every other step), how many steps do your shoes touch?
Answers:
Wee ones: Your foot should be longer.
Little kids: The Statue’s foot is longer. Bonus: 20 buckets of paint.
Big kids: 875 sizes. Bonus: 177 steps.
Laura Bilodeau Overdeck is founder and president of Bedtime Math Foundation. Her goal is to make math as playful for kids as it was for her when she was a child. Her mom had Laura baking before she could walk, and her dad had her using power tools at a very unsafe age, measuring lengths, widths and angles in the process. Armed with this early love of numbers, Laura went on to get a BA in astrophysics from Princeton University, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business; she continues to star-gaze today. Laura’s other interests include her three lively children, chocolate, extreme vehicles, and Lego Mindstorms.