Measuring Hand Dominance, and other dominances (Eye, Ear and Foot)
What is it?
This is a hands-on demonstration which involves students working in pairs doing an unfamiliar task with both their dominant and non-dominant hands.
How do you play?
Students are placed in pairs. Each duet is given one plastic bead box that has two compartments in which there are 10 wooden beads. They are also given four chopsticks. Starting with all of the beads in one side of the box, the student uses the chopsticks to move all of the beads to the other compartment. The partner keeps and records the trial times. First, they do this with their dominant hand and then with their non-dominant hand.
What does it yield?
- It yields data which shows that hand dominance is often not so dominant.
- It allows students to run an experiment by themselves.
- It gives them practice in data collection and recording.
- It teaches them a skill which will prevent them from being embarrassed when they go to an authentic Asian restaurant.
- It can allow you to compare the scores of the boys and the girls.
- It allows you to compare the scores of the lefties to the righties.
- You may use the numerical data to do simple statistical manipulations, i.e. mean, mode and median.
What is included in the kit?
- 15 Plastic two-compartment bead boxes containing 10 wooden beads per box
- 20 Pairs of wooden chopsticks
- 1 Reproducible data recording sheet
- 1 Opinion survey about hand dominance
- 1 Paper and pencil test on hand dominance, which will allow you to make a comparison between opinion and actual test data
- 1 Set of classroom instructions
How much does it cost?
The classroom set costs $ 17.
Additional chopsticks cost 50¢ per pair.
Additional bead box with beads cost $ 1 each.
