Task of the Week: Sculpture “Thinker”
After we opened the first MATHE.ENTDECKER (math explorer) trails at Stuttgart’s stock exchange at the 12th of April (read more here), we want to present you one of the included tasks. The object is the sculpture “Thinker”, a prominent symbol of Stuttgart.
Task: Sculpture “Thinker” (Task number: 2018)
Determine the height of a person with this head size. Give the result in meters.
An interesting question with forces the creativity of the students as the propotion of head size and body size might be unclear. The students can determine this proportion at their own bodies, at best with all group members and the mean. Afterwards, the head size of the sculpture is measured and related to former values. A previous estimation in comparison to the real height might be surprising.
While I am far away from the source of this task to actually engage with it, it appears interesting in that it authenticates classroom mathematics. It has also problem solving aspects that requires learners/students to .think outside the box’.
One other thing is the adaptability of the task and ideas embedded to other contexts outside its origin. Thank you for this task.
Dear Clemence, thank you very much for your comment.
Hope you will have fun with MCM in SA.
all the best
Matthias