Description
This week we will use craft sticks and glue to create — and take home — 3-D models of Platonic and Archimedean Solids. The five Platonic Solids are all composed of repeating shapes, such as using triangles to make tetrahedrons, octahedrons, and icosahedrons. We’ll also make nested cubes out of squares, and dodecahedrons out of pentagons. Then we’ll move on to Archimedean Solids, and use more than one shape to make models. A famous example is the truncated icosahedron (the soccer ball) designed by Buckminster Fuller. We’ll also try other cool shapes to make Archimedes smile. In doing this, we’ll learn about angles and grasp the power of the triangle for structural design. This hands-on, 3-D experience will sharpen our manual dexterity and cultivate our mathematical imagination.
John Chamberlain is a retired English teacher.