This sketch, (well almost) and the notes that go with it, show how Leonardo Da Vinci understood the proportions of the human body. Each separate part was a simple fraction of the whole. For example, the head measured from the forehead to the chin was exactly one tenth of the total height and the outstretched arms were always as wide as the body was tall.

In maths, this week, we decided to check this out and investigate if Leonardo Da Vinci‘s sketches and, more importantly, his data was correct.  We set off in groups measuring our height, our arm span and other various parts of our bodies and entered these into a table. Once we had collected the measurements, we analysed our findings and interpreted the data.  We found out that in most cases:

• the palm of our hand is the same as the width of four fingers;
• the length of our outspread arms (arm span) is equal to our height;
• the distance from our elbow to the tip of our hand is one quarter of our height;
• the distance from our elbow to our armpit is one eighth of a our height;

 

 On the subject of the human body, we also took part in Judo with ‘Marky Mark’, our instructor.  He introduced us to basic moves and techniques.  We also got to throw our partner onto their back, in a controlled and safe way, on the mat.  It was fun but we all felt a little bit exhausted afterwards.