Investigating the strength of regular polygons

In math we have been exploring polygons:

You are a structural engineer, which means you work on designing bridges, roads, canals, dams, and buildings that are safe. You must have a strong understanding of two and three-dimensional geometry to be a structural engineer. Today you will be investigating the strength of polygons. When designing something like a bridge you need to know which shapes offer the most support and can hold the most weight. Did you know that some shapes are actually stronger than others?
Task 1: Before you begin your investigation, make a prediction about which shape you think will be the strongest.
Task 2: Create polygons using the strips and brads provided. You should make polygons with three, four, five, six, seven, and eight sides for a total of six polygons. Record your observations of these shapes using words, pictures, and numbers. Use mathematical language to describe the polygons.


You can see Will's recording work below. One of the patterns that he (and we) noticed is that "the bigger the shape the less sturdy it is," which means the triangle was the strongest shape. This surprised many of us who predicted that "the more sides a shape has the stronger it will be." It was an ah-ha moment to build the shapes and realize that we needed to revise our thinking.

Art for our podcasts

  

On Thursday, those of us who are researching animals met with Mary Lou in the Art Studio to begin sketching. Tree and plant researchers will meet with her next week. Above you can see Charlie's cardinal and Liam's blue-tailed skink. Below is Tenley's squirrel. These sketches will become part of our podcasts along with photographs (hopefully). We are looking forward to sharing some of our research and artwork with our families at the Fall Luncheon on October 30th.

Writing Haiku

 
Today we learned about Haiku, a Japanese form of poetry. We read two books that are written using only Haiku to tell a story.  Haiku usually consists of 17 syllables in three lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7 syllables, and the the third line has five syllables. Haiku typically contain a kigo, or seasonal reference. In Japanese, haiku are traditionally printed in a single vertical line, while haiku in English usually appear in three lines. 


We are experimenting with Haiku to explain our Journey Sticks. Today we tried using Haiku to tell about one specific thing we heard, saw, smelled, or felt near Post #1. Our goal is to do one Haiku for each part of our Journey Stick. Then other people can read our poetry and feel like they are on the trail too!


Here are some of first tries at Haiku for Post #1:


Fresh leaves grace the ground,
also getting my palms wet.
Glittering at night.
By: Hannah


Plants grazed the dirt
Soil was very red in the light
Many bugs moved on the leaves.
By: Aiden


Post One is quiet
No birds chirping, or moving life
It is deserted.
By: Will

Liam's Video About Post #10

On Friday we spent most of the morning writing the narration for our short videos about Post #10 on the Rocky Run Nature Trail. The aim was to show students the process of researching, writing, collecting, practicing, and recording. Next week students will begin to research their own specific plant or animal from the trail. We talked a lot about how the narration should be informational and entertaining. That is a hard balance. Taking a different perspective is one way that we thought the information could be presented in a more interesting way, rather than just listing off facts. Groups took on the perspectives of leaves, trees, deer, and even dirt!. Liam wrote from a leaf's perspective and volunteered to record his narration first. Here's a sneak peak at his video. Hopefully on Monday we'll get everyone else to finish up!

Nonagon Song

We are studying polygons and one of our new favorite songs in the Nonagon song by They Might Be Giants. You can read the lyrics below:

Everybody at the party is a many-sided polygon
When a guest arrives, they will count how many sides it has on

Standing by the window over there
There is a shape with four sides so it's a square

And the one who has nine is looking fine

And its name is Nonagon

Everybody turns just in time to see the pentagon arrive

Counting up the sides, it is clear the pentagon has five

Chatting in the kitchen we see

There is a triangle whose sides number three

And is talking to the shape that has nine

Who is known as Nonagon

Nonagon

Nonagon lets in a guest who has shown up late

Its name is Octagon and its sides add up to eight

Turning the music on

Is a six-sided hexagon

And they all get in a line and do

A dance called "The Nonagon"

The Nonagon

The Nonagon

Finishing up our Journey Sticks

On Thursday in the Art Studio we finished up our Journey Sticks. Now we just need to figure out a way to display them and add our writing to actually describe the journey. We are looking forward to sharing these natural works of art with everyone at the Fall Parent Luncheon on October 30th.

The Square Garden Problem

This is the problem we have been working on in math:

You have been asked to design square garden plots for the Richmond Botanical Garden. They have requested that each garden has a square area in the center for plants. Around each garden is a border of tiles so that people can walk around to enjoy the beautiful flowers. Follow the pattern and find the designs for garden plots #4 and #5. You should use pictures to show your designs. How did you know what Garden Plot #4 looked like? After drawing the designs you should use words and numbers to explain the patterns that you notice.  Be specific so that someone else can understand the specific patterns that you noticed.

Some of the patterns we found include:

Do you see any other patterns that we missed?

Some of us are continuing the pattern much further - even on to the 50th garden plot! Because we know the patterns for the inside and outside we don't have to draw them each time. This makes the process much more efficient. We have found that looking for a pattern in math often makes things much easier to solve.