MathsFreePrintable

Body Measurement Techniques

A free maths worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.

Download now

Name:Date:

Body Measurement Techniques

A student team is estimating the length of a display table using hand spans, then checking the estimates with a tape measure. Use the evidence below to investigate how body-based measurements work and why they can vary.

Team data

Each person measured their own hand span from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger with the hand stretched comfortably. They then paced hand spans along the same table edge. The tape-measure length is the reference value.

Person

Hand span (cm)

Table count (spans)

Estimated table length (cm)

Keira

Complete this column

Hemi

Complete this column

Tape measure

—

228 cm

Investigate the measurements

Show working where calculations are needed. For written answers, explain your reasoning rather than giving only a number.

1.Complete the estimated table length for Keira and Hemi. Multiply each person’s hand span by their table count.

2.Which estimate is closer to the tape-measure length of 228 cm? State the difference between that estimate and the reference length.

3.Keira and Hemi used different numbers of hand spans for the same table. Explain why their counts differ, even though they measured the same length.

4.Choose the best description of a hand span as a measuring unit.

It is a standard unit because every person’s hand span is the same.
It is a non-standard unit because its size varies from person to person.
It is a standard unit only when measuring furniture.
It cannot be used to estimate length.

5.Hemi repeats his measurement, but leaves a 1 cm gap between each hand placement. Would his count tend to be higher or lower than 10 spans? Explain.

6.True or false? Calibrating a hand span in centimetres makes it a standard unit that will be exactly the same for everyone.

TrueFalse

7.Suppose Hemi had mistakenly recorded his hand span as 21 cm instead of 22 cm. Using his count of 10 spans, what table length would he estimate, and how far would that be from the tape-measure length?

8.Name two steps the team could use to make a hand-span measurement more repeatable.

9.The team needs a reliable measurement to order a tablecloth. Should they use a hand-span estimate or a tape measure? Give one reason.