Geometry:
Gumdrop Geometry
Today's
Snack:
We're going to be working with gumdrops, so no doubt a few will find their way
past your lips. And that's OK: sweets are sweet! But for your main snack today,
let's make something kind of wacky out of foods that are better for you than
gumdrops. We all know about using gumdrops to decorate gingerbread men cookies.
They make great eyes or buttons. Well, let's make a sugar-free gingerbread man
- out of vegetables! No gumdrops or other sweets involved. Take a clean plate
and have vegetables on hand with a cutting board and a sharp knife. Use adult
supervision for the knife if necessary. Here are some ideas: Cut slices of
potato or jicama for the body so that they'll lie flat and you can put more
body parts on . . . shredded carrot for the hair? . . . raisins for the eyes? .
. . fresh peas for the buttons? . . . celery slices for the arms and legs . . .
you get the idea. Now run, run, as fast as you can - you CAN catch him - he's
the Vegetable Man!
--------------------
Supplies:
A sack of gumdrops (small or
mini-size) | Toothpicks
Paper plates or napkins
Geometry
is the sweetest math. That's because it takes shape before your very eyes. It
doesn't just lie flat on the paper, like other kinds of math. It can feed your
sweet tooth, too, if you make shapes in with gumdrop geometry!
Use
gumdrops and toothpicks or skewers to form the following geometric shapes. Most
should lie flat, although there are a few at the end which will be
three-dimensional, like a gumdrop-toothpick sculpture.
It's
OK to break the toothpicks or skewers into different lengths.
If
you think you might eat these later, you'd better work on paper towels or paper
plates. But it's not OK to eat the gumdrops . . . until you've shown off
your work!
Have
fun, and build these shapes:
Shape Number of Sides
Triangle 3
(any lengths)
Isosceles Triangle 3
(2 the same length
(that's eye-SAUCE-uh-leez!)
Equilateral Triangle 3 (all the same length)
Scalene Triangle 3
(all different lengths)
(that's SKAY-leen)
Rectangle 4
sides, 2 equal lengths
+
2 more equal lengths
Square 4
sides, all equal lengths
Rhombus 4
equal sides, diamond shape,
corners
not right angles
Trapezoid 4
sides with 2 parallel and not
the
same length, and the
other
2 diagonal
Pentagon 5
sides
Hexagon 6
sides
Heptagon 7
sides
Octagon 8
sides
Decagon 10
sides
Pyramid 3-D
= "three-dimensional" -
a
solid form, not a flat one;
the
base is a polygon = any
number
of sides, but the
sides
are triangles that
meet
at a point at the top
Cube A
3-D figure with 6 equal squares
Pentahedron The
grand finale! This is a 3-D
figure
with five faces:
examples
include a "tent card"
with
3 triangles for the sides and
two
triangles for the "end caps,"
or
a "prism," with 3 long
rectangles
for the sides and two
small
triangles for the "end caps"
