We bet it hasn’t been 12 years since you've had a haircut, otherwise you might have some of the longest hair on Earth! That’s the case for Nilanshi Patel, whose hair was 6 1/2 feet long when it won the world record for the longest of any teenager. Nilanshi has since had a haircut, but she still has a hair-raising world record.
Wee Ones: How long do you think your hair is? Guess in inches or feet, then measure with the help of a grown-up!
Little Kids: A basketball hoop is 10 feet high. If Nilanshi is 5 feet tall and she gets her hair to stand straight up another 6 feet into the air, is her hair taller than a basketball hoop?
Bonus: The longest hair ever measured was 18 feet 6 inches long! How much longer is that than Nilanshi’s 6 feet 6 inches?
Big Kids: If you shave your own hair but it grows back at an incredible 1 1/2 foot per day, how many days does it take you to have longer hair than the 6-foot 6-inch world record?
Bonus: If Nilanshi’s hair started at 0 and grew to 6 feet 6 inches in 12 years, how much did her hair grow in 1 year on average?
Answers:
Wee Ones: Different for everyone - some people might be able to measure their hair with a ruler, others may need a yardstick - or 2!
Little Kids: Yes, her hair would stand 11 feet tall!
Bonus: 12 feet longer.
Big Kids: 5 days - 4 days makes your hair “only” 6 feet long, so you need one more hairy day.
Bonus: 6 1/2 inches. You can convert 6 feet 6 inches to 78 inches and divide that by 12, or you can divide 6 feet / 12 and 6 inches / 12 and add those quotients (1/2 foot + 1/2 inch).
