Monday 11th January 2021

• Why is Mount Everest not the tallest mountain?
• Mount Everest has the highest peak above the average sea level. However, others are taller depending on where you start and stop measuring.
• For example, if you measure from the base of the seafloor, Mauna Kea is over 4000 feet taller than Everest.

• If you thought Mount Everest, commonly thought as the world’s highest mountain, was already pretty tall, you would be right. But, now it is officially even higher! 

  Mount Everest lies in the mountain range of the Himalayas on the border of two countries, China and Nepal.

• Even though both countries recognise it as the highest mountain, they had different recorded heights for the mountain. They have now come to an agreed height of 8,848.86m.

  The disagreement came from how the two countries measured the height of the mountain. Back in 1954, an Indian survey included the snowcap on top. This snow stays year-round and made Everest  8,848m tall. This measurement was used by Nepal. 

  The Chinese on the other hand did their own survey in 2005. They measured the height without the snow as 8,844.43m. Just short of the previous measurement. 

  The countries decided to remeasure the height of Everest. One of the reasons they decided to do this was because of an earthquake back in 2015. Some geologists thought that this might have affected the height because of the shift on the snowcap. Also, some nearby peaks had shrunk by about 1m around the same time. 

  This was the first time the Nepalese had measured the mountain by themselves. They had to train for two whole years to take on the mission. 

  The team had to ascend the mountain to find its height. The team, led by Khimlal Gautum, climbed the mountain in spring. They reached the top in the pitch black at 3 a.m. 

  Khimlal Gautam planted a GPS device which hooked up to satellites which gave the height. A laser also recorded how far down the snow went before hitting the rock. It was so cold that Gautam lost a toe on the mission due to frostbite!

  Once the Nepal team had finished, a Chinese team did their own measurements to confirm the findings. They then released a joint statement saying that Everest is now officially higher 

Activity 1

Explore

Everest is the highest mountain in the world above average sea level. But what else do you know about it?

Explore all about Everest using the Internet, reference books and this All About Mount Everest PowerPoint

See if you can find the answer to these questions:

• Where is Everest?
• How was Everest created?
• Who were some of the early explorers to climb it?

Once you have finished, create your own fact sheet about this incredible mountain. 

Activity 2

Write

Mountains are very handy when planning fiction, especially story mountains!

You will have used these in class but have a look at this Story Mountain Worksheet to get started.

Try writing your own short story based on what you learnt from the Explore tasks.

Even if you don’t choose to print off and write on the template, almost all stories follow the five-act structure of the story mountain, so, before you get writing, think about what happens to your main character at each stage.

Activity 3

Investigate

Mount Everest is considered the highest peak in the world and it is the tallest mountain above sea level. However, many argue that it is not actually the tallest mountain in the world. They say that Mauna Kea in Hawaii is taller.

Investigate why that is and teach someone at home what you have learnt.

In fact, if measured from the centre of the Earth then Chimborazo (a stratovolcano in Ecuador) is the world’s highest mountain!

During the January/February 2021 Lockdown, you will find daily activities which are relevant to current affairs.  

Spend some times reading the information each day and complete the activities.