Ergonomic Design - Elementary School
Student Worksheet
Name:
Date:
Part I: Introduction
Define each of the following terms in your own words.
Ergonomics:
Anthropometry:
What do these concepts deal with? What role do they play in our daily lives?
What is the popliteal height of a person?
RIT Kate Gleason College of Engineering http://www.rit.edu/rems
Page 1 of 3
Ergonomic Design - Elementary School
Student Worksheet
Part II: Data Collection and Analysis
Record your popliteal height, in centimeters, in the space below.
Then record yours and those of all other students in the first column of the table below.
My Popliteal Height __________
Popliteal
Heights
(cm)
Ranked
Order
1) Rank the popliteal height of each member of the class in order from smallest to
largest in the second column of the table.
2) Find the range of the class data.
3) Find the median of the class data.
4) Find the mean (average) of the set of data.
5) Find the mode of the class data.
6) Which measure of central tendency (range, median, mean, mode) is most
important for an engineer to consider when designing a chair?
Why?
7) Based on your class data, what should the seat height of a desk chair be?
8) Measure and record the seat height of the desk chair in your classroom.
How does it compare to the height recommended for your class data in question #7?
9) What are some factors we should consider about how we measured the popliteal
heights of the class and the accuracy?
10) To determine the design of a chair, would it be best for an engineer to use a
sample population, as we used in our study, or data based on an entire population?
Why?
RIT Kate Gleason College of Engineering http://www.rit.edu/rems
Page 2 of 3
Ergonomic Design - Elementary School
Student Worksheet
Part III: Data Comparison
1) The average popliteal height of 5th grade students from the US is 40.1 cm. How does this average compare to
your class average?
2) Do you think desk chairs can be made the same size for students of the same age all over the world?
Why or Why not?
Below is sample data for the popliteal heights of 5th grade students from three countries. (This data represents
popliteal heights with no shoes. About 2 cm would be added for shoes.)
US
Dutch
Students Students
33.2
34.5
36.4
36.4
36.6
37.0
37.1
37.5
37.8
37.8
37.8
37.9
38.3
38.4
38.6
38.7
38.9
39.2
39.3
39.3
39.6
39.9
40.2
40.9
41.2
35.6
35.6
36.9
37.3
37.7
38.2
39.2
39.7
41.2
41.2
41.3
41.6
41.7
41.9
41.9
42.0
42.2
42.3
42.5
43.7
44.3
45.0
45.1
45.1
46.6
South
African
Students
33.9
35.2
36.8
37.2
37.4
37.8
37.9
38.3
38.6
38.6
38.6
38.7
39.1
39.2
39.4
39.5
39.7
40.0
40.1
40.1
40.4
40.8
41.1
41.8
42.0
3) Find the measures of central tendency for US students.
Range:________ Median:________ Mean:________ Mode:________
4) Find the measures of central tendency for Dutch students.
Range:________ Median:________ Mean:________ Mode:________
5) Find the measures of central tendency for South African students.
Range:________ Median:________ Mean:________ Mode:________
6) Which measure has the biggest difference among the 3 countries?________
What does that tell you about the popliteal heights of those students?________
_______________________________________________________________
7) Based on this data should engineers design the same size chairs for students
in all of these countries?
Why or Why not?___________________
8) Why is it important for engineers to design chairs that are ergonomic?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
RIT Kate Gleason College of Engineering http://www.rit.edu/rems
Page 3 of 3