1. Name _____________________________________ Date ___________________
Mrs. Labuski / Mrs. Portsmore Period _______ Common Task Unit #5
Lighthouses
The 32 ⅔- meter-tall Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in the
Unites States. Located in Buxton, North Carolina, the tower was built of 1.2
million bricks, and its walls are 13 feet thick.
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse sits over the dangerous shallow sandbars of
Diamond Shoals. It projects light more than 50 miles into the Atlantic Ocean,
warning travelers away from the area known as the graveyard of the Atlantic.
The following table lists the approximate heights in meters of six operating lighthouses in North
Carolina.
North Carolina Lighthouses
For 1-4, use the table.
1. Write the heights of the Bodie Island lighthouse, Lighthouse Height (m)
the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, and the Currituck
Beach Lighthouse as decimals. Bodie Island (Pea Island) 27
Bodie Island lighthouse _____________________
Cape Hatteras 63
Cape Lookout 51
Cape Hatteras lighthouse ____________________
Currituck Beach 49
Oak Island 51
Currituck Beach Lighthouse _________________ Ocracoke Island 23
2. Which two lighthouses are the same height?
_____________________________________ & _____________________________________
3. Which lighthouse is the shortest? ______________________________________
2. 4. Write the lighthouses in order from tallest to shortest.
North Carolina Lighthouses
______________________________________ Lighthouse Height (m)
______________________________________ Bodie Island (Pea Island) 27
______________________________________
Cape Hatteras 63
______________________________________
Cape Lookout 51
______________________________________
______________________________________ Currituck Beach 49
5. North Carolina has 300 miles of coastline. Is it Oak Island
possible for the six lighthouses to be evenly spaced 51
along the coastline so that one lighthouse is at one
end and one is at the other end? Explain. Ocracoke Island 23
3. Lighthouses
(p. 199 of textbook)
(answer key)
1. Write the heights of the Bodie Island lighthouse, the Cape Hatteras
lighthouse, and the Currituck Beach Lighthouse as decimals.
Bodie Island lighthouse 27.44m
Cape Hatteras lighthouse 63.4m
Currituck Beach Lighthouse 49.3m
2. Which two lighthouses are the same height? Cape Lookout and Oak Island
3. Which lighthouse is the shortest? Ocracoke Island
4. Write the lighthouses in order from tallest to shortest.
Cape Hatteras
Cape Lookout / Oak Island
Currituck Beach
Bodie Island (Pea Island)
Ocracoke Island
5. North Carolina has 300 miles of coastline. Is it possible for the six lighthouses to be evenly
spaced along the coastline so that one lighthouse is at one end and one is at the other end?
Explain.
Yes, if the first lighthouse is at mile 0, then the remaining 5 lighthouses would be spaced
evenly over the 300 miles. 300 is divisible by 5, so the lighthouses would be 60 miles apart.