To Catch an Elephant

This is a similar triangle problem where all the parameters are not already prescribed for the students. They have to identify the pertinent data and create a diagram that shows how similar triangles and proportions can be applied.

Students have to figure out where to place an elephant and a pair of tweezers relative to an eye so that the viewer can imagine picking up the tiny elephant in the background with a pair of tweezers in the foreground. They translate what they discover with specific examples into generalized relationships that can be used to relate all the variables.