Anthropometry

In the past few weeks at school, we have been studying a very complex subject:
anthropometry. Anthropometry comes from the Greek word anthro, meaning man, and pometry,
meaning measurements. Therefore, anthropometry literally means the measurements of man. In
math, we learned about biometrics, which is technology used to identify people, and measured
our friends in the class. For science, we learned about ergonomics, which is the study of how to
make objects ideal for humans, and we spent a week on designing a 2-bedroom cabin to fit
human needs. In global studies, we learned about wellness & nutrition, which is how to be
healthy, and studied malnutrition and a possible solution to malnutrition: Plumpy Nut. Finally, in
literature we learned about anthropology, which is the study of different cultures and religions,
and read a book by Laura Bohannan about how different cultures interpret stories different ways.
After learning about all of these things, our teachers brought us together and explained our
project to us with our driving question. What is an optimal middle school learning environment?
After introducing our project to us, our teachers let us have every afternoon from Monday
to Thursday to complete our tasks. My partner, Connor, and I, had many small steps, but we
mainly had three or four major steps. The first step we had was to select all our items for our
room. Second, we made a floor plan of the room and described it. The third thing we had to do
was to make our models. Finally, the last thing we did was to plan our presentation to our judges.
Connor and I decided to make the downstairs tornado shelter the optimal middle school learning
environment. We believed that our room would be optimal for learning because the whole room
was interactive, with projectors beaming the images onto the walls and floor, and controllers
controlling the interaction. Our results were very pleasant, I would say. The poster had

information and pictures on it, and our models were to scale. With our work completed, I would
say our results were extraordinary.
What is an optimal middle school learning environment? I am happy that our teachers
asked that question, because I learned much about Anthropometry during it. Learning how
different cultures have different values, language, and beliefs was
amazing. Additionally, I know why we think the way we do, because
learning about Anthropology made me think about views. Some parts
of this project were easy, such as
making a poster and models. These
steps were easy because making
posters and models are needed to give information, they will
not help you win your audience. The things that were hard
were the ones that made your room superb. For example, making everything to scale was hard,
because you had to use measurements to make everything ideal. I think we got great results,
because even if we did not win, we got many votes, and we finished everything on schedule.
This interdisciplinary unit is going to be

important in my future, because when I

grow up, I will know how to see the world at different angles.