Big Ben measures 2.7 metres in diameter and 2.2 metres in height. It weighs 13.5 tonnes! The Government is planning a 150 th birthday celebration for Big Ben and they want you to design the advertising poster! The poster must show how special Big Ben is. In the early 1970s an 18.5m- deep underground car park was constructed for MPs. It is very close to Big Ben. This caused Big Ben’s tower to lean another 6mm! The construction of Westminster Station on London Underground’s Jubilee Line left the tower leaning 220mm (8.66 inches) to the north-west. Big Ben is the bell of the world's largest chiming four-faced clock. The hammer that strikes Big Ben weighs 200 kg.

How do these clocks compare with Big Ben? The Colgate clock, in New Jersey US, is octagonal. Constructed: 1924 Diameter: 50ft Minute hand length: 25ft 10in Hour hand length: 20ft Accuracy: to one minute Big Ben’s clock faces Constructed: 1859 Diameter: 23ft Minute hand length: 14ft Hour hand length: 9ft Reloj mas grande del mundo, Equador Constructed: 2004 Diameter: 30m Minute hand length: 14.67m Hour hand length: 11.07m The 24-sided World Time Clock, Berlin, tells people the time around the world. Constructed: 1969 No hands! The Royal Liver Building, Liverpool, has the largest clock faces in Britain. Constructed: 1911 Number of faces: 6 Diameter (each): 7.6m Minute hand length: 4.27m Hour hand length: 2.74m

Up2d8 maths Teachers guide Big Ben celebrated its 150 th birthday on 31 st May this year. The theme of Big Ben offers plenty of opportunity to rehearse, develop and use and apply the skills associated with measures including time and also gathering and applying information from data. Click here for more information about Big Ben.here The ideas on this spread can be adapted to suit most ages

1 st spread: Happy Birthday Big Ben! ●Discuss what the government want the children to do – what constitutes ‘special’? Discuss how they could design the poster e.g. what information to include, what illustrations to use. The children could choose to use some of the information on the spread, they could also look up some more interesting facts in the internet. ●Focus on the maths element of each aspect of Big Ben mentioned on the spread: ●Big Ben is the bell inside the tower which is known as The Clock Tower. Discuss the fact that it is housed inside a four faced clock. The children could construct a cube, after exploring nets, and then make their own version of the clock. They could also make a cuboid to put their clock onto, so making the whole tower. You could give them specific measurements or let them experiment with their own dimensions. ●Ask them to discuss possible shapes for the top and then let them make a variety. ●Ask the children to tell you other things that have a bell inside. Make a collection of items which contain bells, and bells too for a closer look. ●Focus on the hammer, asking the children to imagine how heavy 200kg is. Can they think of anything else that might weigh that amount? They could research average weights of animals and see if any compare. How many ‘average’ grown up men would weigh the same as the hammer? ●Focus on Big Ben itself, discussing diameter, radius and circumference. You could do a teaching session on circles prior to this and use these ideas as a using and applying exercise. Give them the opportunity to measure out the diameter and using ropes make an estimated circumference. They could scale down the measurements of the bell’s size and draw its circumference on paper. If it was scaled down by 10 and then doubled they could use a pair of compasses to draw an accurate circumference. … continued on the next slide

1 st spread: Happy Birthday Big Ben! continued… ●Make a clock face the same size as Big Ben's clock face on the playground. Predict - could all our class stand on the clock face? Use the clock face for some time games. ●Ask them to make paper strips that are the height of Big Ben, estimating first. ●Let them have a go at making a plasticine model of the bell using plasticine or similar, aiming towards scaled down dimensions (circumference and height) that are reasonably accurate. ●Discuss the weight of Big Ben. How many kilograms in a tonne? How many in 13.5 tonnes? How many hammers would weigh the same as the bell? ●Explore the idea of Big Ben’s tower leaning due to the constructions of the car park and the Jubilee Line. They could try to measure the lean that it has and model it using interlocking cubes or cardboard towers. This could lead into an exploration of angles. They could measure the angle of lean from their models using a protractor. ●Inform the children that the bell strikes first exactly on the hour. You could watch a clip from YouTube and count the length of time it takes to strike twelve.

2 nd spread: World famous clocks Useful websites:Colgate clockColgate clock Reloj mas grande del mundo World time clock Royal Liver Building clock ●Look at the four other clocks shown and ask them to share similarities and differences in terms of such things as size and shape. Compare them to the information of the clocks of Big Ben. ●Discuss why can’t they compare the lengths of the hands on, for example, the Colgate Clock and the Reloj mas grande del mundo: measured in different units. Use this as an opportunity, if appropriate, to work on conversions between imperial and metric measures of length, the goal being to convert the lengths of the hands to both feet and metres in order to compare them. Do this for all the clocks and then order and compare in terms of lengths of hour hand, diameter etc. They could make these conversions using appropriate calculation methods or use a calculator. ●You could provide the conversion and concentrate on one measure e.g. meters with the younger children. Big Ben: diameter: 23ft (7m), minute hand: 14ft (4.3m), hour hand: 9ft (2.7m). Colgate Clock: diameter: 50ft (15.24m), minute hand: 25ft 10in (7.9m), hour hand: 20ft (6.1m). Reloj mas Grande: diameter: 30m (98ft 6in), minute hand: 14.67m (48ft 1in), hour hand: 11.07m (ft). Royal Liver: diameter: 7.6m (25ft), minute hand: 4.3m (14ft), hour hand: 9ft (2.7m). N.B. metre measurements have been rounded. ●What do they notice about the diameters and hands or the Royal Liver Building clocks and those of Big Ben? ●Focus on each clock in turn and discuss the numerical data, measuring the diameters and lengths of the clock hands on the playground. … continued on the next slide

2 nd spread: World famous clocks. continued… ●Discuss diameter and why is there isn’t one for the World Time Clock face. ●You could ask the children to make drawings of one or more of the clocks, scaling the measurement of the diameter down so that they can use compasses to draw the circumferences. ●Would one (or each) of these clocks fit in your playground? Measure the playground to find out. ●They could make a model of the World Time Clock by forming a 24-sided shape out of card. ●Did you know that the World Time Clock was first built in the Communist era? It told the German citizens the time in all the parts of the world they weren't allowed to go! ●Imagine each of the 24 numbers were written on a door. When the clock strikes the hour, the door opens and out pops something appropriate to that time of day. What should it be for each hour? ●Explore other arrangements of 24 which could be used for a clock (eg a numbered 6 by 4 grid - a light could be on in the appropriate hour box only). ●Explore the times on the four clocks shown when Big Ben shows 12 noon. Find the countries on a globe and order the times from earliest to latest. Explain why they are in that order. ●There are several interesting clocks that the children could research, for example the Times Square National Debt Clock which records the amount owing by the federal government! Times Square National Debt Clock