Creating Polyhedra in Math Class

Math class with teachers Bob and Sam offers some interesting projects for students to take on to learn math concepts. Sam notes that "Plato, in his dialogue Timaeus, made mystical connections between the five regular polyhedra and fire, air, earth, water, and the cosmos. Kepler made models of the five regular polyhedra and decorated them with appropriate Platonic symbols."

In the spirit of Plato and Kepler, Shelby made and decorated models of the five regular polyhedra. Then she assembled them into an attractive mobile. "Sam suggested the project and I decided that it would be fun to do," said Shelby. "It took a long time to complete. The quotes and art on the sides are just random things that came to mind while I was working on it. The quote 'Filthy water cannot be washed' came while I was talking with Kiera."

We look forward to seeing what new projects will emerge from our math classes when school begins again in September.

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A Challenging Math Class Project

Sam Smith, our volunteer extraordinaire (who has spent his mornings over the past eight years teaching advanced mathematics and assisting in our math classes), offered students an opportunity to work on a some amazing polyhedron building projects.

"These projects provide a change of pace for students," says Sam, "they offer a tactile, see it, feel it, experience of great mathematics. And they teach geometry in a way not usually taught in most schools."

Among the many students involved, Madeline and Alex went to work cutting pieces and gluing parts together to create a rhombidodecadodecahedron and a compound of five tetrahedra respectively. Over a period of several weeks during a school term, the students demonstrated their skill (and patience) in creating their projects.

Sam Smith notes that "students don't just learn how the pieces fit together, they also learn constraints. There are lots of life lessons involved in this form of mathematics."

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