Walk the Line

Joanna Belechak, Brooke Carmazzi, Brooke Wiethorn

We performed the Walk the Line experiment to test the theory that humans cannot walk
in a straight line without a visual point of reference. In this experiment, we determined how far
our classmates could walk down our school hallway before veering off the straight path. Our
method for data collection included drawing a path 30.3 meters long and 1.0668 meters wide
with painters tape down the hallway. We marked this tape every three meters to facilitate
measuring. Students were blindfolded and asked to walk naturally down the path. Once their foot
touched the tape, the participant was stopped by having another person say “stop”. Their distance
was then measured and recorded.

Name Trial 1 Trial 2

Alex 6.91 m 18.35 m
Aaron 4.14 m 4.80 m
Brooke C. 11.42 m 11.43 m
Brooke W. 17.26 m 12.01 m
Emma 5.60 m 6.13 m
Fin 4.60 m 30.21 m
Hannah 10.04 m 6.57 m
Joanna 5.78 m 8.08 m
Keaton 9.05 m 5.43 m
Malia 10.83 m 10.66 m
Michaela 19.78 m 6.92 m
Regina 5.94 m 19.21 m
Ryan 18.08 m 5.30 m
Sophia 27.8 m 3.39 m

Raw Data Calculations Unrounded Value Rounded to 4 Decimal Places

Mean (x̅) 10.91857143 10.9186
Critical Value (tc) ±2.051830493 ±2.0518
Standard Deviation (s) 7.09798809 7.0980
Margin of Error (E = tcs / √𝑛 ) 2.752312423 2.7523
Confidence Interval (x̅-E, x̅+E) (8.166259, 13.6708838) (8.1663, 13.6709)

After completing this experiment, we can conclude that it is difficult for humans to walk in a
straight line without being able to see their destination. Although we were able to see these
results, sources of error could have taken place if the student continued to move after being
asked to stop, affecting their distance, and sound could have influenced the direction the
participant traveled as well. This experiment could be improved by adding more trials and
participants. Another trial could be added that eliminated sound as a point of reference for
participants by using noise cancelling head phones.