Lab Paper
Biology 103 Lab
Spring 2013
Does a larger head mean higher intelligence?
Introduction: Some say a larger head gives room for a bigger, more intelligent brain. Men, thought to have larger heads simply because they're… well men. In which case, men have a larger head size than women, therefore making men smarter than women.
Methods: My partner and I went ahead and measured the heads of 15 people in our class, 5 of them male and 10 of them female. We used a measuring band to measure, to the nearest millimeter, the circumference of their heads. For the men in the class we gathered five measurements: 57, 58, 58, 61 and 60. For the women in the class we gathered ten measurements: 60, 56, 58, 55, 57, 59, 58, 54, 57 and 61. To be sure, we measured everyone twice with two different measuring tapes. We came out with the same numbers both times. After getting our measurements, we first added up the measurements for the men and divided by five to get the average head circumference. We then did the same with the female measurements but divided by ten.
Results: After adding up our measurements, the average head circumference of the men in the class was 58.8mm. The average head circumference of the women in the class was only 57.5mm.
Conclusion: According to our results, the hypothesis would be true. Although, I reject the hypothesis. Some men can very well have a larger head size and be more intelligent than a woman, but same could be said for women. Simply measuring the circumference of one's head could never actually tell you how intelligent someone is. The best way to accurately say that men are smarter than women is to actually test their intelligence with a series of tests in different subjects such as Math, Science and History.
Spring 2013
Does a larger head mean higher intelligence?
Introduction: Some say a larger head gives room for a bigger, more intelligent brain. Men, thought to have larger heads simply because they're… well men. In which case, men have a larger head size than women, therefore making men smarter than women.
Methods: My partner and I went ahead and measured the heads of 15 people in our class, 5 of them male and 10 of them female. We used a measuring band to measure, to the nearest millimeter, the circumference of their heads. For the men in the class we gathered five measurements: 57, 58, 58, 61 and 60. For the women in the class we gathered ten measurements: 60, 56, 58, 55, 57, 59, 58, 54, 57 and 61. To be sure, we measured everyone twice with two different measuring tapes. We came out with the same numbers both times. After getting our measurements, we first added up the measurements for the men and divided by five to get the average head circumference. We then did the same with the female measurements but divided by ten.
Results: After adding up our measurements, the average head circumference of the men in the class was 58.8mm. The average head circumference of the women in the class was only 57.5mm.
Conclusion: According to our results, the hypothesis would be true. Although, I reject the hypothesis. Some men can very well have a larger head size and be more intelligent than a woman, but same could be said for women. Simply measuring the circumference of one's head could never actually tell you how intelligent someone is. The best way to accurately say that men are smarter than women is to actually test their intelligence with a series of tests in different subjects such as Math, Science and History.