Hercules' Hand

Why I like this problem: It is very open to interpretation and students can bring in a lot of outside knowledge. It ties together many different subjects and can be incorporated in mythology, History, architecture and art lessons. This problem is also great for developing research skills.  

Observations from class: Once students figured out that using the internet for more information would be a good strategy (and was allowed), I had a hard time controlling their tendency to look up the answer. When I assign it again, I will only have a few computers available (as opposed to a Chromebook per student) to ensure that students only use technology for relevant research and to make it easier to keep tabs on the pages they are using for research.

Follow-up questions I asked: 

1. What assumptions did you make? 
2. What background knowledge did you use?
3. Why did you decide to use this method?

Required skills / content: Research, measuring, proportions.

Links: PDF / Google Doc

Source: Christian Courtemanche