Activity Overview
In this activity, students discover how the Golden Ratio appears in everyday life. They enter data in the activity center and create a scatter plot of measurements taken prior to the lesson
Before the Activity
Prior to the day of the lesson, the students should complete the Measurement Sheet. Have the students pair up to assist each other with their measurements. It is advisable for the teacher to collect the measurement sheets until the day of the activity.
On the day of the activity, the teacher may want to lead a discussion on the Golden Ratio and how it appears in everyday life. The teacher may also compare Phi to Pi and have the students explain similarities.
During the Activity
The teacher should load the Golden Ratio activity into activity center. Before starting the activity, the teacher will need to configure the plots. L1 will be assigned to the Y-list and L2 will be assigned to the X-list. The students will log onto NavNet. When the teacher begins the activity, the students will be given a 10 page ?form? to enter their measurements. After all the students have entered the data, the teacher can conduct a quick poll having the students speculate whether the scatter-plot will have a positive or negative correlation. After viewing the scatter-plot, the teacher can either change the activity configuration to accept equations from the students giving a line of best fit or the teacher can enter an equation. Ideally, the line of best fit should have a slope of around 1.619 or phi.
After the Activity
As a follow up activity, the teacher can challenge the students to measure rectangular items at home, divide the length by the width and record how close the answer is to 1.619.