Sign up for freeSign up

How long is a blue whale? How long, How tall and How heavy questions

Students ask how questions with long, tall and heavy in this A1 ESL lesson plan, and answer in feet, inches and pounds.

Grammar
How plus an adjective and be (How tall are you?), answers with a number and a unit (It's 94 feet long.), and How much does it weigh? for weight.
Topic
Size and US units at New York's American Museum of Natural History, where a blue whale model hangs from the ceiling, with words such as weigh, ruler, inch and pound.
Activities
A museum card to read, a dialogue and an audio guide to hear, self-checking drills, a chat of podcast questions, open-box guesses and a fact card to write.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Hello, big blue!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: how long, how heavyVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a whale in the museum

    • Look at the photo: the blue whale modelPictureUnlock
    • Read the museum cardReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: it's huge!

    • Listen to Mia and LiamListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the museum audio guideListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: How long is it?

    • Study the scheme: How long is it?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right wordChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: How long, how tall, how farFill in the gapsTry it
    • Drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: How tall are you?

    • Choose the right replies: Liam at the museumChatTry it
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Write a fact card: an animal or a buildingWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record yourself: How big is your world?Speaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

25 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • model
  • tape measure
  • ruler
  • inch
  • pound
  • heavy
  • long

Grammar: how + adjective questions about size

A blue whale model 94 feet long, hanging overhead, makes size questions worth asking: How long is it? How heavy is it? After How old…?, learners use one pattern for length, height, weight and distance, answer in inches, feet, miles and pounds, and learn which adjectives can follow the number.

How long is it? It's 94 feet long.

Ask about size with How + long, tall, heavy, big or far. Answer with a number and a unit.

How + adjective + is or are

The question starts with How and an adjective, then am, is or are, then the person or thing: How long is the model? How far is your school? Nothing goes between How and the adjective: How long, never How much long.

How + adjective + am / is / are?

Howlong / tall / heavy / big / far / oldam / is / areI / you / he / she / it / we / they

How long is the model?

How tall are you?

How far is your school?

Questions and answers

QuestionAnswer
How long is the whale model?It's 94 feet long.
How tall is she?She's five feet four (inches).
How heavy is the model?It's about 21,000 pounds.
How big is your bedroom?It's small. / It's very big.
How far is your school?It's two miles.
How old is your dog?It's three (years old).

Inches, feet, yards, miles and pounds

Twelve inches make a foot, and three feet make a yard. Inches suit small things like a phone, feet suit people, rooms and whales, miles suit far places, and pounds tell weight. The plural of foot is feet, never foots.

OneTwo or moreUse it for
1 inch2 inchessmall things: a phone, a pencil
1 foot2 feet (not foots)people, rooms, whales
1 yard2 yardsa backyard, a sports field
1 mile2 milesfar places: your school, a city
1 pound2 poundshow heavy: a bag, a dog, a whale

94 feet long: what follows the number

Long, tall and old can come after the number and unit: It's 94 feet long. He's six feet tall. It's three years old. Heavy, far and big can't: It's 21,000 pounds, It's two miles.

✓ number + unit + long / tall / old

  • It's 94 feet long.
  • He's six feet tall.
  • It's three years old.

✗ heavy, far, big: not after the number

  • It's 21,000 pounds. (not: pounds heavy)
  • It's two miles. (not: miles far)

How heavy is it? How much does it weigh?

Weight has two questions with one meaning: How heavy is it? and How much does it weigh? Answers use be or the verb, and weigh and grow take -s for one thing: It weighs about 21,000 pounds. A blue whale grows up to 110 feet long.

How heavy? = How much … weigh?

How heavy is it? = How much does it weigh? (not: How heavy is weigh?) Answer: It's about 21,000 pounds. = It weighs about 21,000 pounds. And grow: Blue whales grow up to 110 feet long.

Long or tall?

Long runs from one end to the other: a whale, a snake, a table, a street. Tall runs from the floor up: people, trees and buildings. So a blue whale is long, not tall, while Liam is six feet tall.

long or tall?

long = from one end to the other: a whale, a snake, a table, a street. tall = from the floor up: people, trees, buildings. A blue whale is up to 110 feet long (not: tall). Liam is six feet tall.

Common mistakes

  • How much long is it?

    How long is it?

    How + adjective: no much

  • How long it is?

    How long is it?

    is / are before it, you, the whale

  • It's long 94 feet.

    It's 94 feet long.

    number + unit + long / tall

  • It's 94 foot long.

    It's 94 feet long.

    1 foot, 2 feet

More lessons on this grammar: Questions lessons and exercises

Try the how questions exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • ask about size with How and an adjective: How long is it? How tall are you? How far is your school?
  • answer with a number and a unit, adding long or tall where it fits: It's 94 feet long. It's two miles.
  • use US units in the singular and the plural: one inch, six inches, one foot, two feet, ten pounds
  • ask about weight two ways and tell long from tall: How much does it weigh? A whale is long, not tall.

Lesson 30 is the second lesson of Weekend stories and plans, the last unit of English A1.2 · Out and About. It builds on How old…? from lesson 10 of English A1.1 · Hello, World, where age took be, and on the wh- questions with does from A1.2 lesson 10, which come back in How much does it weigh? With a whale model hanging overhead, size is the natural thing to ask about, and US units give the answers.

Students spin a wheel of questions about museums, animals and big buildings, then learn ten words, from weigh and grow to tape measure and pound, with pictures and audio. They read the museum card for the blue whale model, which sets its size next to a real whale's, and hear Mia and Liam (an AI-voiced dialogue) and a museum audio guide on when visitors first saw the whale and how workers clean it. The grammar chapter has the scheme and four exercises, checked as students answer, including a drag-and-drop that completes questions and answers. In the speaking chapter, students chat with Liam at the museum, asking and answering size questions, then open boxes that ask them to guess sizes.

Homework starts with two self-checking tasks, putting sentences in order and matching words with their meanings. Students then write a fact card about an animal or a building and record their answers to How big is your world?, and the teacher gets both.

Grammar:
How + adjective · How long / tall / heavy / big / far? · inches, feet, yards, miles, pounds · How much does it weigh?
Topic:
blue whales · American Museum of Natural History · New York City · museums · US units

Teaching tips

  • Bring a tape measure to class: measure the door, a desk and a volunteer's height, write the results in feet and inches, and ask How tall is the door? before the drills.
  • Sort adjectives into two columns on the board: long, tall and old can follow the number, while heavy, far and big can't. Then have students fix It's two miles far.
  • Ask about the weight of things, not people: the lesson weighs backpacks, pets and whales, so keep the class's own examples to bags and animals too.
  • Turn the classroom box into a contest: pairs guess how long the room is in feet and write the guess down, then measure it. The closest pair wins.

Liked it?

Teach the whole lesson in edio

25 exercises in 6 chapters, ready to teach. edio is an online platform for language schools and teachers: ready-made interactive lessons, live classes, homework and student progress in one place.

  1. Start a free trial

    7 days, no credit card.

  2. Open the lesson

    Find it in the library of 621 ready lessons. Teach it as it is, or copy any chapter into your own lessons.

  3. Teach it live or as homework

    Students work in their own accounts, in sync with you during the lesson, and the practice exercises check themselves.

Teach it free for 7 days

The whole course: English A1.2 · Out and About

32 lessons that pick up where English A1.1 ends, in simple American English, from the present simple with he and she to was and were. Eight units cover shopping, the weather, getting around, celebrations, health, animals and nature, jobs and weekends. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Shopping

    clothes and colors, he and she in the present simple, sizes and prices, paying in a store

    1. Lesson 1What does she wear on Aloha Friday?Present simple with he, she and it
    2. Lesson 2A basket on wheels?Present simple negatives with don't and doesn't
    3. Lesson 3What size are these boots?What questions and a pair of
    4. Lesson 4Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian MarketRequests and permission with Can I and Can you

  2. Unit 2 Weather and seasons

    the weather, seasons and months, the present continuous, how often it rains or snows

    1. Lesson 5Is the Windy City windy?Weather adjectives with It's
    2. Lesson 6Does it rain in the desert?Yes/no questions with does
    3. Lesson 7Baseball at midnight?The present continuous for now
    4. Lesson 8Is it always windy on Mount Washington?Adverbs of frequency and their place

  3. Unit 3 Getting around

    transport, timetables, where places are, tickets with want and need

    1. Lesson 9How do you get to work?By + transport, take the bus and on foot
    2. Lesson 10What time does the ferry leave?Wh- questions with does
    3. Lesson 11Where's the streetcar stop?Between, behind, in front of and across from
    4. Lesson 12Do you need a ticket?Want and need with a noun

  4. Unit 4 Celebrations

    dates and holidays, in and on, party invitations, object pronouns

    1. Lesson 13Why is it called Juneteenth?Ordinal numbers for saying dates
    2. Lesson 14Never on a Sunday? The Rose ParadeIn, on and at for dates and times
    3. Lesson 15Come to our Lunar New Year party!Some and any with plural nouns
    4. Lesson 16Thank you, teacher!Object pronouns me, you, him, her, it, us and them

  5. Unit 5 Healthy me

    the body, how often, at the pharmacy, steps with first and then

    1. Lesson 17Does your back hurt?Hurt and hurts with parts of the body
    2. Lesson 18How often do you walk?How often questions and expressions of frequency
    3. Lesson 19What's the matter?Have and has for health problems
    4. Lesson 20Clean hands in five stepsSequence words with imperatives

  6. Unit 6 Animals and nature

    there is and there are, what animals are doing, parks, a, an and the

    1. Lesson 21Which frog sings its name?There is and there are for what's in a place
    2. Lesson 22What's the bear doing now?Present continuous questions and negatives
    3. Lesson 23Are there any horses on the beach?Questions with is there and are there any
    4. Lesson 24Where do the baby turtles go?A, an and the for first and second mention

  7. Unit 7 Jobs people do

    jobs and workplaces, the present simple and continuous, job interviews, possessive pronouns

    1. Lesson 25Who makes the sounds in movies?Present simple vs present continuous
    2. Lesson 26Nurses on horses?At, in and on with workplaces
    3. Lesson 27Can you be a lifeguard?Verbs with prepositions
    4. Lesson 28Whose hat is this?Possessive pronouns from mine to theirs

  8. Unit 8 Weekend stories and plans

    was and were, how long and how tall, and, but and or, camping food

    1. Lesson 29Why do we have two days off?Was and were, the past of be
    2. Lesson 30 · you're hereHow long is a blue whale?How + adjective questions about size
    3. Lesson 31A cow made of butter?And, but and or for joining ideas
    4. Lesson 32What do you need for s'mores?Containers and quantities with of

Questions about this lesson

How do you ask how big something is in English?
Ask How big is it? for size in general, and answer with an adjective: It's small. It's very big. For an exact number, choose the adjective that fits the measure: How long is it? How tall is it? How heavy is it? Big never follows a number, so say It's 94 feet long, not 94 feet big.
How do you answer "How tall are you?"
Give your height in feet, then inches: I'm five feet six. I'm five feet four. The word inches is usually left out, and tall can go at the end: I'm six feet tall. It never goes first, so I'm tall five feet six is wrong. The A1 lesson How long is a blue whale? on edio.ai asks this in a chat, as a question for a friend's podcast.
How do you use feet and inches in English?
Twelve inches make one foot, and three feet make one yard. Use inches for small things (My cell phone is about six inches long.), feet for people, rooms and whales, miles for far places and pounds for weight. The plural of foot is feet, and inch adds -es: two feet, six inches. For a height, say the feet first: five feet four.
What are how questions?
How questions start with How, often followed by an adjective: How old is your dog? How long is the model? How far is your school? With be, the order is How, the adjective, is or are, then the subject. Some use a helper verb instead: How much does it weigh? The answer is often a number and a unit: It's two miles.
How do you ask how heavy something is?
Ask How heavy is it? or How much does it weigh?, which mean the same. Answer in pounds: It's about ten pounds. It weighs about 21,000 pounds. Don't put heavy after the number (ten pounds heavy is wrong), and don't mix the two questions into How heavy is weigh? In class, ask it about bags, pets and animals rather than people.
Is it "six foot" or "six feet"?
Say six feet: after two or more, foot becomes feet. He's six feet tall. The model is 94 feet long. Our kitchen table is six feet long. The singular appears in a describing word before a noun, joined with a hyphen: a 94-foot model. Inch simply adds -es: one inch, six inches.
Is it "How long is it?" or "How long it is?"
The question is How long is it?, with is before it. In a question, be comes before the subject: How tall are you? How far is your school? How heavy is a real blue whale? The order how long it is belongs inside a longer sentence, as in I don't know how long it is.
What's the difference between long and tall?
Long measures from one end to the other, and tall measures from the ground up. A whale, a snake and a street are long; people, trees and buildings are tall. So blue whales grow up to 110 feet long, never 110 feet tall. In the A1 lesson How long is a blue whale? on edio.ai, a friend asks How tall is it? and hears Not tall! A whale is long.
How do I teach how questions to beginners?
Start from How old…?, which beginners already know, and swap in a new adjective: How old is it?, then How long is it?, then How tall is it? Measure real things in class so every answer has a number and a unit. How long is a blue whale?, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, moves from a museum card and a dialogue to the scheme, four drills and a chat.
What's a good game for practicing how questions?
A guess-and-measure game works well: a student asks How long is the classroom? or How tall is the door?, everyone writes a guess in feet, and a tape measure shows who was closest. This lesson's open boxes add guessing prompts of their own, such as How heavy is your bag today? Guess! and How long is your classroom? Guess in feet!
What's good homework for practicing how questions?
A fact card about an animal or a building is good homework: how long or tall it is, how heavy it is and where it is, as in Blue whales grow up to 110 feet long. In How long is a blue whale? on edio.ai, the card and a recording about the student's own world, from height to the way to school, go to the teacher.
Are there interactive exercises for how questions?
Yes: drills and chats that check each reply let learners ask and answer how questions with instant feedback. Four parts of How long is a blue whale?, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, play on this page with no account: the museum card for the whale model, Mia and Liam's dialogue, a gap-fill with How tall are, How far is, feet and inches, and a chat with Liam at the museum. The other exercises are locked.
Unlock full lesson

Teach this lesson with your students

Book a demoStart free trial

No credit card required