In this lesson, the students are analyzing the data collected from the previous lesson to determine whether or not the Golden Ratio is in their body.
1. Form groups of two or three
2. Ask students to open the Fathom program on their laptops.
3. Using the LCD projector, demonstrate to students how to properly import the data previously collected from the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. (*Spreadsheet must be saved as "Text (Tab delimited)")
a. Open Fathom 2
b. Click on file at top of page.
c. Go to import, import from file, and choose the appropriate file (goldenbody.txt).
d. After importing file into Fathom, highlight the collection by clicking on it, then drag a new table from the tool bar into the window. This provides a table which should look similar to our excel spreadsheet.
e. Next, we want to graph each of the six ratios that have been calculated. Click and drag six graphs from the tool bar onto the Fathom window.
f. Click on one of the ratio columns and drag the column on to the x-axis of one of the blank graphs. Do this for all six ratios to see the distribution of the ratios. (Click here to see a sample of what this may look like.)
4. Do you notice any patterns in the distributions?
5. Which ratios conform more to the golden ratio?
6. Which ratios are most varied in their distribution?
7. Are any of the ratios more skewed than others?
8. Extention: It may be interesting to plot all of the different ratios of one student. Ask for volunteers, because of the sensitive nature.
a. Create a new table by clicking and dragging the table feature from the toolbar onto the window. (Make sure nothing is highlighted when doing this step.)
b. Name the column the students initials followed by ratio. (For example CS_ratio)
c. Type in each of the six ratios to the nearest thousandth for that student into the column.
d. Click and drag this column into the horizontal axis of a new graph.
e. How does this students data conform to the golden ratio?
f. Is the data skewed?
9. Within groups, students should briefly discuss what they have found in nature that has the golden ratio. Each group should pick three objects that they think would be interesting to measure. List all the groups items that they have found. Have the class narrow the list down to 4 or 5 objects that most students can find at home. Students will measure all items on this new list.