The best thing about this project: We will be studying about the human body in science for the next few months. We will be doing activities to learn about bones, muscles, and tendons and how they work together. The purpose of the project is to find proportial relationships between body parts. This will fit in beautifully with the regular science curriculum. It will also allow students to review math graphing skills and to learn the new concept of ratio.
The worst thing about this project: The teacher has to average the individual results for each pair of measurements. There are 5 pairs of measurements. That means punching in 29 numbers on the calculator, 5 times!
What I would change to improve this project (and why): The project instructions say that the teacher should average each of the five pairs of measurement data for the boys and the girls. I think that many fourth graders could do this accurately using calculators. This portion of the project could be assigned to several good math students. Students should always be encouraged to do as much as they are capable of doing on a project; and it would also be helpful to me.
Joined by: Jo Ann Rachford
Date: Friday, February 28, 1997 10:17:35 PM