Friday 9 November 2012

The Vitruvian Man

On Wednesday 8th November, Maple class did an exiting maths class, being watched by Mr Morris (our head teacher).

We tested Leonardo Da Vinci's theory on the Vitruvian Man. Leonardo thought that ALL humans arm span was exactly the same measurement as your height. He also thought that your ear is exactly one third of your face. None of the class proved Leo right, poor Da Vinci.

Now, you might wondering what maths is in this - but there is a lot! We had to estimate, measure fractions of amounts, proportion, use a calculator, measure accurately and many more hard and brain-racking calculations! 

Get your tape measure out quickly and see if you're the Vitruvian Man!
  • Boys - is the length of your foot one-sixth of your height?
  • Is your palm the width of four fingers?
  • Is the distance from your elbow to armpit one-eighth of your height?
  • Is the distance of from your hairline to the bottom of your chin one-tenth of your height?

Get involved now!

5 comments:

  1. Hi Maple Class - that sounds like a terrific lesson! Sadly I am not a Vitruvian Man - my ears are far too small!
    Mr K :-)

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  2. Well done everyone. You were all so busy seeing if you met the criteria. I think our conclusion was that we are all the Vitruvian Man in some way but not all ways. We also talked about the accuracy of measuring didn't we? It was great to see you all so engrossed in your maths during the lesson.
    Mrs Prior

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  3. I found out that your foot is the same size as your wrist to your elbow. I found it out when I was doing gymnastics. (In my room!) Please come and visit our blog, and post some amazing comments.
    www.6d2012.highlawnprimary.net
    Charlotte.W

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Maple Class,
    What an AMAZING maths lesson, I hope that Mrs Duxbury(my teacher)lets us do something like this! Maybe I can suggest that to her!
    From Aamina N at
    http://6d2012.highlawnprimary.net/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello Maple class,
    Nice experiment yet who actually is the Vitruvian Man? Harrison at 6d.2012.highlawnprimary.net

    ReplyDelete