Building the Body Scale Icosahedron (Activity for Adults)
Text on screen: Building the Body Scale Icosahedron (Activity for Adults).
Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.
Image on screen: An icosahedron constructed out of wooden dowels is sitting on a table.
Text on screen: Icosahedron.
Images on screen: A montage of images demonstrates the materials and steps to construct a body scale icosahedron.
Text on screen: Materials.
Images on screen: Six sets of five wooden dowels with eye hooks on the end lay on a table. Above the dowels are twelve o-rings. One o-ring is in the center of the table. The ends of five dowels are attached to the o-ring and splayed out to create a five-pronged star. The end of each dowel that extends away from the o-ring has its own attached o-ring. Dowels are laid out between the prongs of the star and form a pentagon. The dowels that were laid out between the prongs in the last image are connected to the o-rings and form a raised pentagon. Two dowels are connected to each corner of the pentagon, creating triangular “teeth.” The dowels are connected to the pentagon, creating triangles. The tops of the dowels that create the point are connected by o-rings.
A person holds the structure up, grasping the raised middle of the pentagon. The triangles that extended out from the pentagon are hanging down, with the tips pointed toward the table. Five dowels are on the table in the shape of a pentagon. Another person holds the structure up by grasping the center of the raised pentagon. One of the dowels has been connected to two of the tips of the triangles. A second dowel connects two more of the triangles. A third dowel connects two more of the triangles. A fourth dowel connects two more of the triangles. The structure is standing on the table with the fifth dowel connecting the final two triangles. The dowels form a base, allowing the structure to stand upright on its own. An o-ring with five dowels creating a five-spoke star lay on the table in front of the standing structure.
On screen: A person holds the structure in the air above the five-spoke star. The person connects the end of each spoke to an o-ring on the base of the structure.
Image on screen: In the final image, the Icosahedron stands upright on the table.
Text on screen: Credit for the original design of this activity: Abrahamson, D., & Rosenbaum, L. F. Embodied Icosahedron: Participatory Activity Designed for the Embodied Mathematics, Imagination, and Cognition Working Group (EMIC). The 38th annual meeting of the North American chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA), Tucson, AZ: 2016, November 3. Recent build guide designed by STEAM Milwaukee.
Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.