Finding Heights of Objects Using Similarity
This activity was about using proportions to find measurements. It was also using prior knowledge (such as my height), to find the height of the pole which was unknown. We took a picture, and then put it up on our laptop. Then, we measured how big we were on the screen (I was 1.5 cm, and the pole was 6.3 cm). Since we already knew that I was 57 inches, we had to find the scale factor. To find it, we divided 6.3 by 1.5, and the answer was 4.2, the scale factor. Then we multiplied my real height by the scale factor to find the height of the pillar in real life. 57 x 4.2 is 239.4. The height of the pole is 239.4 inches.