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New World-Record Book Available in Bookstores

Subjects

Arts & Humanities
--Language Arts
Mathematics
--Applied Math
--Arithmetic
--Measurement
Social Studies
--Current Events

Grades

Grades 2-up

News Content

The latest edition of the Guinness Book of World Records went on sale last week.

News Words

Introduce these words that appear in the News Word Box on the students printable page: plastic, serious, require, edition, achievement, and activities. Discuss the meanings of any of those words that might be unfamiliar.

Read the News

Click for a printable version of this weeks news story New World-Record Book Available in Bookstores.


Reading the News

You might use a variety of approaches to reading the news:

Read aloud the news story to students as they follow along.

Students might first read the news story to themselves; then you might call on individual students to read sections of the news aloud for the class.

Photocopy the news story onto a transparency and project it onto a screen. (Or use your classroom computer's projector to project the story.) Read the story aloud as a class, or ask students to take turns reading it.

Arrange students into small groups. Each student in the group will read a paragraph of the story. As that student reads, others might underline important information or write notes in the margin of the story. After each student finishes reading, others in the group might say something -- a comment, a question, a clarification -- about the text.

More Facts to Share

You might share these additional facts with students after they have read this weeks news story.

  • Jake Lonsway of Bay City, Michigan, was six years old when high school students in his area attempted to assemble the largest group of people wearing Groucho Marx glasses. Even though a snowstorm prevented the students from setting a record, Jake has always been intrigued by the idea of setting a record of his own. Jake and his mother searched the record books for a record they thought he might be able to set, and they settled on building a ball of plastic wrap. Jakes 281-pound ball of plastic wrap, which takes up a large corner in the family garage, appears this year for the first time in the new edition of the Guinness Book.
  • At 7-feet 4.6-inches tall, 13-year-old Brenden Adams of Ellensburg, Washington, has a hard time fitting into cars. Adams, the tallest teenage boy, was taller than his teacher when he was in kindergarten. His record appears for the first time in the newest Guinness Book.
  • About 4,000 records are listed in the latest edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, but that is only about 10 percent of all the stats that make up the Guinness World Records database, said Stuart Claxton, a spokesman for the organization.
  • More than 2,000 students participated in laying 65 miles of pennies on a speedway track in Fontana, California. The students are part of the THINK (Teaching, Helping, Inspiring & Nurturing Kids) Together after-school program. While the group ran out of time in its attempt to lay out 100 miles of pennies, they are confident they have the record anyway. Guinness World Records will have to certify the record before it can be included in the book. The current record for pennies laid out is 40 miles.
  • The fifth Guinness World Records Day is scheduled for November 12. The event was first celebrated in 2004. While records can be set any day of the year, the annual World Records Day is a special day on which many people attempt to break records. Last year, more than 300,000 people in 15 nations around the world attempted to break more than 50 records including the --- fastest bed (UK).
    --- largest image made of LED lights (Ireland).
    --- most kisses given in one minute (France).
    --- largest rubberband ball (USA).
    --- largest loaf of bread (Brazil).
    --- longest kebab (South Africa).

    Use the News

    Print out this weeks Use the News printable activity page for students.

    Use the News: Answer Key
    Vocabulary Check: 1. require; 2. activities; 3. serious; 4. plastic; 5. achievement; 6. edition.
    Main Idea: Many different kinds of records are included in the Guinness Book of World Records.
    Word Wiz: 1.d, 2.a, 3.f, 4.c, 5.e, 6.b.

    Comprehension Check

  • How much did Jake Lonsways ball of plastic wrap weigh? (281 pounds)
  • How tall is the tallest teenage boy? (7-feet, 4 inches)
  • How much did the largest loaf of bread weigh? (1-1/2 tons)
  • How many records can be found in the latest edition of the Guinness Book of World Records? (about 4,000)
  • When is Guinness World Records Day scheduled? (November 12)
  • How many miles of pennies did some California kids lay on a racetrack in their community? (65 miles)
  • When was the Guinness Book of World Records first published? (1955)

    Think About the News

    The Think About the News question on the students news story page asks About how many pennies did the students need to build a chain of pennies 65 miles long?
  • Students might count the number of pennies in 1 foot.
  • 1 foot = 16 pennies
  • 1 mile = 5,280 feet
  • 5,280 feet x16 pennies (number of pennies in a foot) = 84,480 pennies in a mile
  • 84,480 pennies (number of pennies in 1 mile) x 65 miles = 5,491,200 pennies
  • 5,491,200 pennies divided by $1.00= $54,912.00
    (Note: The students had raised $84,500 in pennies in hopes of laying 100 miles of pennies.)

    To get an idea of what a million pennies looks like, you might share with students The MegaPenny Project.

    Follow-Up Activities

  • For the latest news about attempts to break world records, see the Guinness records news page. (Note: Teachers should screen all content on the Guinness site for appropriateness before using it in the classroom.) On this news page you will read about records and see photos such as the
    --- most people dressed as Smurfs in one place: 1,253 (County Monaghan, Ireland).
    --- largest cheesecake: 4,703 pounds (Mexico City).
    --- longest ear hairs: 7.12 inches (India).
    --- most time spent in an amusement park bumper car: 24 hours.
    --- most times the Rubiks Cube has been solved in one hour: 185.

    Perhaps your students will find a record they would like to try to break on November 12!

    Assessment

    Use the Comprehension Check (above) as an assessment. Or have students work on their own (in their journals) or in their small groups to respond to the Think About the News question on the news story page.

    Lesson Plan Source

    Education World

    National Standards

    LANGUAGE ARTS: English
    GRADES K - 12
    NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
    NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge
    NL-ENG.K-12.7 Evaluating Data
    NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills
    NL-ENG.K-12.9 Multicultural Understanding
    NL-ENG.K-12.11 Participating in Society
    NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

    MATHEMATICS: Number and Operations
    GRADES Pre-K - 2
    NM-NUM.PK-2.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
    NM-NUM.PK-2.2 Understand Meanings of Operations and How They Relate to One Another
    NM-NUM.PK-2.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
    GRADES 3 - 5
    NM-NUM.3-5.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
    NM-NUM.3-5.2 Understand Meanings of Operations and How They Relate to One Another
    NM-NUM.3-5.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
    GRADES 6 - 8
    NM-NUM.6-8.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
    NM-NUM.6-8.2 Understand Meanings of Operations and How They Relate to One Another
    NM-NUM.6-8.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates
    GRADES 9 - 12
    NM-NUM.9-12.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
    NM-NUM.9-12.2 Understand Meanings of Operations and How They Relate to One Another
    NM-NUM.9-12.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates

    MATHEMATICS: Measurement
    GRADES Pre-K - 2
    NM-MEA.PK-2.1 Understand Measurable Attributes of Objects and the Units, Systems, and Processes of Measurement
    NM-MEA.PK-2.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements
    GRADES 3 - 5
    NM-MEA.3-5.1 Understand Measurable Attributes of Objects and the Units, Systems, and Processes of Measurement
    NM-MEA.3-5.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements
    GRADES 6 - 8
    NM-MEA.6-8.1 Understand Measurable Attributes of Objects and the Units, Systems, and Processes of Measurement
    NM-MEA.6-8.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements
    GRADES 9 - 12
    NM-MEA.9-12.1 Understand Measurable Attributes of Objects and the Units, Systems, and Processes of Measurement
    NM-MEA.9-12.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements

    MATHEMATICS: Problem Solving
    GRADES Pre-K - 12
    NM-PROB.PK-12.2 Solve Problems That Arise in Mathematics and in Other Contexts
    NM-PROB.PK-12.3 Apply and Adapt a Variety of Appropriate Strategies to Solve Problems
    NM-PROB.PK-12.4 Monitor and Reflect on the Process of Mathematical Problem Solving

    MATHEMATICS: Connections
    GRADES Pre-K - 12
    NM-CONN.PK-12.3 Recognize and Apply Mathematics in Contexts Outside of Mathematics

    MATHEMATICS: Representation
    GRADES Pre-K - 12
    NM-REP.PK-12.3 Use Representations to Model and Interpret Physical, Social, and Mathematical Phenomena

    See recent news stories in Education Worlds News Story of the Week Archive.

    Article by Gary Hopkins
    Education World®
    Copyright © 2009 Education World

    09/24/2009


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