
What other ratios are consistently found in the human body from person to person? See the More to Explore section for relevant resources. You could look into other ratios in the human body and come up with an activity like this one to investigate them. Extra: The human body has many other interesting ratios, such as those mentioned in the Background of this activity.How does a person's speed affect their step length? Extra: You could do this activity again, but this time have volunteers walk slowly, moderately fast or very fast.Is there much variation in the ratio of step length to height when comparing many people? Does collecting more data make your height estimation more accurate? Try to collect data from at least 10 volunteers. For example, you could go to a park with a jogging path or a similar location with an adult where you can ask for volunteers as they pass by. Extra: Try this activity with a greater number of people.How does your actual height compare with your estimated height? How accurate was your estimate? Have someone measure your actual height.Based on your data, what is your estimated height? What was your step length? Then divide your step length by the volunteers' average ratio of step length to height. Divide 20 feet by the number of steps you took. Walk from one end to the other of your 20-foot course while counting the number of steps you take. Lastly, use your results to estimate your own height.What numbers do you get for this ratio? Are they similar for the different volunteers or is there variation? Average the step length to height ratio for all of your volunteers. For each volunteer, figure out their ratio of step length to height by dividing their step length by their height (both in feet).What was the step length for each volunteer? For each volunteer, figure out their step length (in feet) by dividing 20 feet by the number of steps each took.How tall is each volunteer? Did they take a similar number of steps or was there variation? Be sure to write the results down. Repeat this process for at least two more volunteers.How many steps did you count? Write down the answer. As they do, count the number of steps they take. Ask the volunteer to walk from the beginning to the end of the 20-foot course you marked at a normal pace and stride.How tall are they? Write their height down on a scrap piece of paper. Using a tape measure, measure out a distance of 20 feet and mark the beginning and end points with a piece of sidewalk chalk (if you are using a sidewalk) or mark them each with small objects that will not be moved (if you are using an indoor hallway).


Sidewalk chalk or two small objects to mark off 20 feet of distance.20 feet of straight sidewalk or hallway.This ratio, combined with the motions involved in walking and running, is used by pedometers to calculate traversed distances. The longer each step, the more distance a person travels when taking the same number of steps while walking, jogging or running.


Because the length of a person's legs is related to a their height by a ratio, the latter will affect how long of a step they take. There are other ratios as well, each describing how one part of the body relates to another in size. For example, when your arms are outstretched, the distance from the tip of one hand to the other is usually about equal to your height. Why is height an important variable for measuring how far a person has walked? One part of the answer has to do with ratios. On some pedometers, when a person sets the instrument to record an outing they must enter their height into the pedometer to get an accurate reading. In this science activity you'll get to investigate just how much faster or slower different people walk, and see if you can use the relationship between a person's walking pace and their height to estimate your own height.Ī pedometer is an instrument that is often used by joggers and walkers to tell them how far a distance they have gone. Do you ever find that you need to walk faster to keep up with some people whereas you have to decrease your pace to walk with others? This is likely because of the difference in leg length between you and the person you are walking with.
