My PBL Project

Introduction:

What is the relationship between a person's bones and their height?

To find out if bones and height correlate, I have to collect data from 6-10 males and 6-10 females. I should be measuring height, tibia, femur, humerus, and radius. It has long been a theory that bones and height correlate. My job with this project is to find out if they do correlate. I was interested in this PBL because i remember when I was younger, I saw a children's cartoon where they were measuring their body parts to get their whole body measure. I used this opportunity to see if it actually would work.

Materials:

-6 male participants

-6 female participants

-Measuring tape

-Data tables

Procedure:

1. Collect data from 6-10 male and females and find out their bone measures and height.

2. Put the collected data into a chart. One for each male and female.

3. After measurements and putting them in a chart you should try to come up with an equation which gives the

approximate height when you plug the length of bones.

4. After finding equations for all bones, put them into an info-graph, one for each male and female. Make graphs for each bone type as well.

5. You should determine what type of function would best represent the relationship between the height of a person and the length of the bone.

Find your formula in terms of the length of bone type separately for males and females.

Scientific Principle:

Scientists have long known that various parts of the body are proportional to each other. In the Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Proportions of the Human Figure"shows that a persons height is equal to the span of their arm. Forensic scientists can use long bones, such as humerus and radius, to figure out the height of a person. Even paleontologists can use this method. As they don't always find full skeletons, by using the long bone, they can infer the size of the dinosaur.

When trying to find the equation of femur-to-height, use (in cm) 2.6x+65≈height. Where x is length of the femur.

When trying to find the equation of humerus-to-height for females, use (in cm) 3.06x+64.26≈height. Where x is the length of the humerus.

When trying to find the equation of humerus-to-height for males, use (in cm) 32.69x+59.41≈height. Where x is the length of the humerus.

When trying to find the equation of tibia-to-height for Caucasoid males, use (in cm) 2.42x+81.93≈height.

When trying to find the equation of tibia-to-height for Caucasoid females, use (in cm) 2.90x+61.53≈height.

When trying to find the equation of tibia-to-height for Negroid males, use (in cm) 2.19x+85.36≈height.

When trying to find the equation of tibia-to-height for Negroid females, use (in cm) 2.45x+72.56≈height.

When trying to find the equation of tibia-to-height for Mongoloid males, use (in cm) 2.39x+81.45≈height.Where x is the length of the tibia.

When trying to find the equation of radius-to-height, use (in cm) 3.876x+73.502≈height. Where x is the length of the radius.

Safety Regulations:

Be careful when measuring participants.

Sources:

http://www.most.org/curriculum_project/Life_Sciences/middle/Post/Bones_Can_Tell_Us_More.pdf

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1203/teaching/teaching2.htm

http://mthsscience.org/Science_fair/SF_Forensics/Bones.pdf

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