The Eyes Have It: Who Could Ever Fathom? Station 2 Student Activity Page 5C Activity Introduction: Portion distortion is common and it is causing a lot of people to gain a lot of weight. Learning to judge healthy serving sizes takes practice. Carrying around measuring cups and a scale is not practical. In this activity you will try to compare common measurements with parts of your hands. Activity Background: In all traditional measuring systems, there are units based upon human body parts. Some of these are included in Table 1 below. Since most of us do not have an innate ability to judge weights and measures, using parts of the hands may help people learn to judge healthy serving sizes of foods. Table 1 Natural Weights and Measurements Derived from Human Body Parts Name Measurement Numeric Values Origin Arm s Length Cubit Digit Fathom Length of a human arm. 28 inches (70 cm) English Word comes from Latin cubitum or elbow.length of a man s forearm from his elbow to the tip of his outstretched middle finger. Distance equal to the width of a persons finger. Word comes from old English foethm meaning outstretched arms. It is the distance between a man s outstretched fingertips. 18 inches (47.72 cm) [Note: Roman and Egyptian measurements are smaller while the Royal cubit was longer.].75 inch (19 millimeters) 2 yards or 6 feet (approx. 1.829 meters) English Ancient civilizations England but Danish, Swedish and Japanese forms exist that are different in length. Finger Length of the middle finger from the tip to the joint where the finger is attached to the hand. 4.5 inches (11.43 cm) English Fist The width of a clinched hand. 4 inches (10 cm) English Corpulosity 14
Table 1 Natural Weights and Measurements Derived from Human Body Parts, continued Name Measurement Numeric Values Origin Foot Length of a human foot. 12 inches (33.3 cm) English Natural foot 9.8 inches (25 cm) Ancient time Hand Traditional unit of distance which is used to measure the height of horses. 4 inches (10.16 cm) Palm Width of a person s palm. 3 inches (7.5 cm) England (confused with a span from ancient times.) Shaftment Span Thumb Yard Distance from the tip of the outstretched thumb to the opposite side of the palm of the hand. This distance represents the span of a man s hand with fingers stretched out as far as possible. Another name for an inch. It is the width of a man s thumb at the base of the nail. Distance from the tip of the nose to the tip of King Henry s outstretched finger. 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) 6 inches( 15.24 cm) Anglo Saxon Modern times 9 inches (22.9 cm) English 1 inch (2.5 cm) England 3 feet or 36 inches (91.44 cm) Source: Russ Rowlet from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/custom.html England 1066 Activity Materials: Copy of Student Activity Page per station or group Copy of Student Data Page per student 15Corpulosity
Activity Instructions: 1. When estimating serving sizes, you can use your hands to determine about how much food you should eat. This will help you learn portion control and thus avoid the portion distortion that causes so many people to gain weight. 2. Using Figure 1 and Figure 2 diagrams on your data sheet mark and label the recommended servings listed in Table 1 on your Student Data Page. 3. Fill in Table 1 on your Student Data Page indicating how to measure the Portion Distortion Servings with your hands. 4. Parts of Hand a. Fist = 1 cup b. Index finger length = diameter of fruit serving c. Thumb tip = 1 tsp d. Thumb volume = 2 Tablespoons e. Palm of Hand = 3 oz, keep palm flat, filled with nuts or chips = 1 serving Retrieved from the following on January 20, 2006 http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~kh346/html/handy.htm 16Corpulosity
The Eyes Have It: Who Could Ever Fathom? Station 2 Student Data Page 5C Table 1: Estimating Serving Sizes 1 Recommended Estimate on Hand Portion Distortion Estimate on Hand Serving Serving 1/2 c chopped fruit 1/2 fist 1 c chopped fruit 1 tsp butter Tip of thumb 2 Tablespoons butter 1 cup cereal, 1/2 fully out-stretched 2 cups pasta rice or pasta hand 1 ounce cheese Complete thumb 4 ounces cheese 3 ounces meat, Palm of hand 10 ounces chicken chicken or fish 2 Tablespoons of Thumb 5 Tablespoons peanut butter peanut butter Chips Fill flat palm 5 servings chips Fist 17Corpulosity
Open Hand 18Corpulosity