We started this Unit of Inquiry by making simple observations and asking questions about our own bodies. To do this, we sketched each other in various poses. Then we looked at the drawings that people did of us, and asked questions about ourselves. I'll use the picture on the left as an example:

Q. Are my legs really that short?
Q. Does my body really look like an 'm'?
Q. Are my eyes really just two black dots?
Q. Is my neck really that thin?


This activity does three main things for the students:

1. They look at their own bodies in a critical and more scientific way
2. It is a first step in learning about anatomical drawing
3. It leads to interesting inquiry into the mathematics of our bodies (How many times do our heads fit into our bodies? How much bigger are our feet than our hands? How far apart are our eyes? What is the average length of our arms?)