Height…Are You Really As Tall As You Think You

Are?

Big Question

Does a person’s height stay the same all day or do they shrink at night?

HypothesisI predict that a person’s height will decrease at night because of the pressure that we put on our spine throughout the day.

Interesting Facts1. Over 50% of my test subjects lost height throughout the day.

2 Age didn’t seem to play a factor in whether or not your height stayed the same.

3. Adolph Qutiliet invented how to measure height.

4. The compression of the soft tissue between your limbs and spine is what causes you to lose height throughout the day. If you didn’t ever get out of bed you would probably remain the same height.

5. “When our discs are healthy, they compress and release and you could compare them to a spring. At night, when we are free of gravity’s pressure, they soak up nutrients and water from our blood, making the average person as much as two inches taller in the morning.” ~Editha Hearn

Experiment

A. Materials:1.People to measure

2.Clock

3.Ruler

4.Pencil

5.Tape measure

6.Paper and pencil to record data

Experiment Continued

B. Step By Step Experimental Instructions:

Step One:

Contact at least twenty individuals of all age and arrange a time to measure each one in the morning and again at night. I chose to measure everyone at 7:00 a.m. and again at 7:00 p.m.

(This allowed me to measure everyone before they left for work or school and again before they went to bed. Also, by measuring everyone at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. I was able to get a good idea of whether or not their height changed during the day. You can see what a person’s height is shortly after they wakeup and have have been off of their joins and at night when they’ve been standing al day and have had a lot of pressure on their spine.)

Experiment ContinuedStep Two:

Once you have a schedule of people to measure (or test subjects) begin to measure everyone.

Step Three:

When measuring an individual bring along your tools: ruler, pencil, tape measure and paper and pen.

Experiment Continued

Step Four:

Ask each subject to stand with their backs to the wall and be sure that no one is wearing shoes.

Experiment ContinuedStep Five:

Once your subject is firmly against the wall place the ruler in flat position on top of their head an use it as a marking guide for the wall and then mark the wall with your pencil.

Experiment ContinuedStep Six:

Once you have a mark on the wall, use your tape measure to get an accurate height in inches for each person.

Step Seven:

Write down your measurements on a piece of paper next to each subject’s name.

Step Eight:

Repeat steps two through seven again in the evening.

Step Nine:

Once you have 2 measurements for each person, analyze your data. Did the person’s height stay the same? Did they shrink at all? Did they grow?

Control and Variables

To keep my experimental data consistent, I was the only one who did any of the measuring. If I had allowed other people to help me do the measuring, my results wouldn’t have been as consistent.

I was also able to maintain control over my experimental data by measuring everyone at the same time of day and night.

I made sure that each of my subjects took off their shoes when I measured them to assure accuracy.

ObservationsOne observation I made was my subjects appeared to be more alert in the morning and were more dreary at night. I wondered if this had anything to do with how tired their bodies were and how it affected my results.

A large group of people complained of backaches in the morning. The people who talked about this the most were the adults.

When I asked people to stand flat against the wall, a large group tended to put their chins against their chests and this had to be corrected before I measured them.

People seemed more anxious in the morning.

DATASubjects First Initial

7:00 a.m.Height

7:00 p.m.Height

Subjects First Initial

7:00 a.m.Height

7:00 p.m.Height

1. C. T. 65” 64” 2. P. T. 63” 63”

3. M. T. 71” 71” 4. B. T. 59” 59”

5. A. H. 62 ½” 62 ½” 6. J. H. 71 ½” 71 ½”

7. D. H. 63” 62 ¾” 8. C. H. 71 ½” 71 ½”

9. B. B. 69” 68” 10. A. B. 65” 64 ½”

11. M. B. 41” 41” 12. C. J. 68 ¼” 68 ¼”

13. M. J. 66” 65 ¾” 14. H. J. 59” 58 ¼”

15. C. J. 52 ½” 52 ½” 16. D. J. 42” 41”

17. M. N. 69” 68 ½” 18. B. N. 63” 62 ½”

19. J. D. 70” 69 ½” 20. R. D. 67” 66 ½”

21. A. D. 49” 49”

Analysis of DataA: Did your experiment test your hypothesis?

My experiment did test my hypothesis.

B: How do you know?

I know because my hypothesis questioned whether or not a person’s height changed throughout the day and I was able to test this by measuring everyone twice in one day (a.m. and p.m.). This was a good way to see whether or not my hypothesis proved true or false.

ConclusionA. Was your hypothesis correct?

My hypothesis was partially correct. Some of my subjects had a change in their height and others did not. Eleven of the twenty-one people I measured became a little shorter later at night. That’s over 50% of my population.

Based on the conclusions of my experiment, more than half of the population is shorter at night!

Conclusion Continued

B. What would you change in your experiment?

I would change the amount of people.

C. What questions did you have?

I want to find out why some people’s height changed and others didn’t? What makes a difference? Is it just their body type or is it because of their activity level throughout the day?

ResearchGoode, Katherine. Skeleton and muscles. Woodbridge, CT : Blackbirch Press, c2000.

Hall, Stephen S. Size matters : how height affects the health, happiness, and success of boys-- and the men they become. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006.

Hearn, Editha L. You are as young as your spine. New York : Bunim & Bannigan, 2006.

Porter, Kathleen. Ageless spine, lasting health : the open secret to pain-free living and comfortable aging. Austin, Tex. : Synergy Books, c2006.

Rake, Jody Suliivan. The Human Skeleton. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, c2010.

Wiese, Jim. Head to toe science : over 40 eye-popping, spine-tingling, heart-pounding activities that teach kids about the human body. New York : John Wiley, 2000.

The End