DaVinci Man- Measurement and Multiplying Fractions

One activity I use to help students understand how math is part of nature is the Proportions of a Man activity. It brings art and math together. Students can measure each other, which involves cooperative learning. First start by measuring height and base proportions on this. Students then measure arm span to see that height and arm span match. I open the activity with the measurement of each other to grab their interest.
Then I give them a model of a circle with a 8 inch diameter and have them work the proportions based on this height. They draw an 8 inch circle and draw the Vitruvian Man with the proportions illustrated below (taken from Wikipedia):

• the length of a man's outspread arms (arm span) is equal to his height
• the distance from the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one-tenth of a man's height
• the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is one-eighth of a man's height
• the distance from the bottom of the neck to the hairline is one-sixth of a man's height
• the maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of a man's height
• the distance from the middle of the chest to the top of the head is a quarter of a man's height
• the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is a quarter of a man's height
• the distance from the elbow to the armpit is one-eighth of a man's height
• the length of the hand is one-tenth of a man's height
• the distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose is one-third of the length of the head
• the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is one-third of the length of the face
• the length of the ear is one-third of the length of the face
• the length of a man's foot is one-sixth of his height

The activity can be tailored to just the proportions of the face, or the whole human body. Conversion to percentages is also an option. The finished products are quite beautiful, targets the visual/artistic learning style, and is a way to show how math really is used in nature.