Body measurements

The length of a foot the width of a finger and the distance of a step were all accepted measurements. Today only the stone continues in customary use for measuring personal body weight. Model how to measure have everyone sit down facing the board. A cubit was a measurement based on the forearm from elbow to fingertip. As part of this activity students visit the powerplay exhibit at the childrens museum of houston. The exact length varied according to whose arm was being used and could be from 18 to 22 inches.

Eight body based units of measurement cubit. The same is true of digit in modern english. The cubit was just one of numerous units of measurement based on the typical size of body parts. Stretch out the fingers of your hand. Students practice estimating and measuring in metric units and investigate the concepts of ratio and proportion as they relate to features of the human body. Here are a few more.

Your forearm is about 15 feet 46 centimeters. At first an inch was the width of a mans thumb. It probably goes without saying that the unit foot was based on the length of a mans foot. Quinaria the cross sectional area of a pipe created from a flat sheet of lead 5 digits wide stremma the amount of land a person can plow in a day. In ancient times the body ruled when it came to measuring. Now that the key vocabulary has been reviewed we can move onto the fun part of the lesson measuring parts of the body.

The present stone is 14 pounds 635 kg but an earlier unit appears to have been 16 pounds 725 kg. The width of your palm is about 4 inches 10 centimeters. Cubit from latin cubitum the elbow. Digit in latin digitus could mean either finger or toe. A yard was originally the length of a mans belt or girdle as it was called. Examples include body parts grain seeds or livestock body parts feet were the most common just becasue the first thing that people are measuring is ground distances and feet are convenient.

The distance between your nose. Using your body to estimate length your hand. Hold out your arm and take a tape measure or ruler. Attempt to measure your arm but. Hand hand fingers thumb. Your forearm from elbow to fingertip.

This is the distance from a mans elbow to the tip of his middle finger which would be about 18 inches for the. Measuring parts of the body. It probably goes without saying that the unit foot was based on the length of a mans foot. The other units were multiples of 2 8 and 160 times the stone or 28 112 and 2240 pounds 127 kg 508 kg 1016 kg respectively. An average foot is about 12 inches long. From nose to finger tip.

First nothing in nature is consistent enough for precision measurement they get used early then abandoned the name sticks around the unt they no longer use the actual thing.