Upper primary

The data you need to collect with your class is described on the Core Activities page.

Lead-up ideas

Is it possible to work out how tall someone is from the size of their foot? What could we do to find out?

What measurements could you use to describe the size of your foot?

Discuss the project -- what is happening in Australia, how the class can participate, and what they might be able to find out from the results (using both class data and the national figures).

Investigate different ways you could measure the length of your foot (e.g. draw around your bare foot and measure from tip of longest toe to heel; put a tape measure on the floor at right angles to the wall, then place foot with heel against wall and record length at tip of longest toe…).

Make estimates and pose questions which might be tested and/or answered with the data. For example:

• Which member of the class will have the shortest feet?
• Estimate the heights and foot lengths of class members (it might be useful to make one or two measurements as reference points and then allow students to revise their estimates based on the new information).
• Estimate or order the heights and foot lengths of staff around the school -- then line them up at assembly to check!
• How many times greater than your foot length is your height?

A possible "activity starter": Find a footprint in the sandpit – who do you think made this?

Collecting and recording the data

Students could propose and trial methods for collecting the data (using ideas suggested below and on the junior primary and middle primary pages and/or generating their own). Do all the methods give the same answers? Which would be most accurate and why?

Liaise with the teacher of another class. Older students could measure and record data with younger students in the school. Make sure they have a clear understanding of the task and help them to decide on appropriate methods for data collection and recording.

Remember that students' height data will need to be grouped according to their gender and "Foot Size" classification and then added together for reporting.

To determine "Foot Sizes", students might:

• design and use devices for direct determination of their "Foot Size" grouping; and/or
• measure the length of each foot in centimetres and look up the corresponding "Foot Size" in the table.

Use tables and/or graphs to display your data in the classroom or corridor. Possibilities might include:

• A record of each individual's measurements
• Number of students in each "Foot Size" class
• Distribution of heights
• A record of the number of times each person's foot length fits into their height (i.e., the ratio of their height to their foot length)

Investigating

What kind of graph(s) would you choose to represent the data, and why?

Do the data allow you to answer the questions you posed? (If not, what else could you do to investigate?)

What other questions do you have now?

How can you examine whether there is a relationship between “foot size” and “height”? (Perhaps find the ratio for each individual; look at a scatter graph…). If you think there is a relationship, how would you describe it?

When investigating the ratio of their height to their foot length, students might use concrete counting methods (such as using cutout footprints on a height streamer, or walking heel-to-toe along a piece of string) and/or division calculations. Are the answers the same using each method? Why?

Can you use your class’s data to predict the height of some people you have not yet measured? (Try it out and then test your prediction). Do you think it is reasonable to use your data to predict the height of an adult from his or her foot size? Why? What about a small child? Does the information from the national data collection help you to answer this question?

Talk about the concept of "average" (which will be used in the national data being returned to you). A hands-on approach might be to make a piece of string for the height of each person, join them together, then fold the total length enough times that there is one "lap" of the string for each person in the group. How could you find the same result by calculation?

Variation is an important idea. It would make sense that, in general, people's feet grow as their height increases; however, each of us is an individual and we expect very few people to match any theoretical model exactly.

Invite a basketballer into your room (or research the measurements of some) – what similarities and differences can you see between their data and yours? What about a swimmer, soccer player or a gymnast?

Investigate the national data (available on Tuesday 11 September) and compare the findings with those of your class. Are there any problems with constructing a model of the relationship between foot size and height from the national data collection (think about the way the data were reported...).

What are some of the limitations this data set might have? Do you know whether everyone was as careful in their measurements as you were?

Answer your own open-ended questions about the data in a report format (including graphs, statistics etc.) - perhaps for submission to the school newsletter or local paper?

More activity ideas for upper primary school