Education Technology


Follow the Golden Rule

Activity Overview

Students find ratios and calculate measures of central tendency for sets of data. They understand the concept of the Golden Ratio. They use box-and-whisker plots to analyze data.

Before the Activity

  • Set up the calculator for data collection using the procedure described in the attached Appendix PDF file
  • See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
  • Print pages 15 - 22 from the attached PDF file for your class
  • During the Activity

    Distribute the pages to the class.

    Follow the Activity procedures:

  • Measure and record the height of a person, the distance from the navel to the floor, and the distance from the head to the navel
  • Enter the data in the calculator using lists
  • Calculate the ratio of height to distance from the navel to the floor
  • Calculate the ratio of distance from the navel to the floor to distance from the head to the navel
  • Repeat the experiment for different people, find the mean ratio, and compare it with the golden ratio
  • Create a box-and-whisker plot of the listed ratios
  • Calculate measures of central tendency for this data
  • Repeat the procedure for different sets of data
  • After the Activity

    Students will complete the Data Collection and Analysis page and answer questions listed on it.

    Review student results:

  • As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
  • Re-teach concepts as necessary