Guiding Question:
How accurate are old measurements using body parts? What is the importance of having an International measuring system?
Hypothesis
I think that the old way of measuring was not correct and is a bit harder to use. It was not correct because everyone is different is size so when measuring things like a fathom, pace, or English yard they can be the same, small, or really big difference in length.
Materials:
· A white board
· A space book
· A desk
· A hallway
· A peep
· A ruler
· A calculator
· Pace: legs outstretched =1 yard approximately or 1 meter
Egyptian cubit= elbow to tip of the middle finger= 18 inches or 45 cm
Fathom = middle finger to middle finger across the body = 6 feet, 180 cm, 1.8m
Palm = across the palm of the hand = 3 inches or 8 cm
Hand including thumb = 4 inches or 10 cm
Span = from tip of thumb to tip of little finger= 3 palms or 9 inches or 24 cm
English yard = from fingertip of arm to nose = 36 inches or about 1 meter
Foot = 12 “or 30 cm approximately
Fingernail = tip of pinky =1/2 inch = 1 cm.
Procedure:
1. Make a data table with 7 rows and 7 columns.
2. Choose six items to measure.
3. Decide which unit of measurement you will use.
4. Now measure it three times then calculate the average.
5. Next you measure the actual length with a ruler.
6. Repeat the steps 3-5 with the rest of the items.
7. Now compare the answers you got.
This is what the table should look like
Item | Type of measurement | Try 1 | Try 2 | Try 3 | Average | Real measurement |
White board | ||||||
book | ||||||
desk | ||||||
hallway | ||||||
peep |
Record & Analyze
Data Analysis:
I know that the data we got is right because there is not really any way to make a mistake in this. Half of the time the lengths were the same or really close. They were the same or really close on the space book, crayon box, and the peep. I think the measurements of the bigger objects were off. Because on bigger objects you would use fathoms(6 feet) to measure it quicker and when both of your arms are stretched out it is your height, so not everyone is different height so it does not really equal six feet.
Conclusion:
In this project to measure everything we used a meter stick and we measured in inches. It is important to have an international measuring system because when there is something important and you need to measure something and you do not have any way to measure it, but with the international measuring system you can. The answer to the guiding question is that it is not very accurate but the measuring system can work for some people and you already know why it is important to have an international measuring system. It is the easiest to measure smaller items like the peep, space book, and the crayon box. Those were also the most accurate. When we were measuring were mostly used fathoms and inches. With the peep we used inches, and with the hallway we used fathoms.. For the forms of measurement they used a long time ago I think was good then but now we have an even better way of measuring.
Further inquiry:
If I had done this lab again I would change how I did a few things. I would have used other measurements to just try them. Something we did that was wrong was that the first time we did the measuring we only measured each thing once, but we went back and fixed it. The only question that I have is, were there any other measurements they used.
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