How to Teach the Origami of a Soccerball
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A Geometry Group Project
This is very easy and fun project to do for your Geometry students. This is a great quarterly project suggestions as generalization project of plane and solid figures.
In this project, the students will be able to:
Fold a rectangular piece of standard paper into a square
Fold and cut the square into four equal parts
Use a quarter of a square to make an equilateral triangle
Make origami connectors.
Make 60 regular hexagons out of equilateral triangles using origami connectors
The whole class will be able to fold 120 equilateral triangles with pockets in each side.
The main objective is to make a soccerball out if recycle papers and a balloon.
In this project, the students will be able to:
Fold a rectangular piece of standard paper into a square
Fold and cut the square into four equal parts
Use a quarter of a square to make an equilateral triangle
Make origami connectors.
Make 60 regular hexagons out of equilateral triangles using origami connectors
The whole class will be able to fold 120 equilateral triangles with pockets in each side.
The main objective is to make a soccerball out if recycle papers and a balloon.
Let's Predict!
Characteristics of a soccer ball:
A soccer ball has 20 regular hexagons and 12 regular pentagons.
Things You'll Need
40 pieces of band paper (standard sizes)
scissors
glue
black or dark blue balloon
scissors
glue
black or dark blue balloon
Instructions
Step 1. Teach them how to fold a square.
Give each of them a piece of paper and call their attention while you are folding the paper. Then ask them to follow your foldings.
The main goal is for them to come up with a square and be able to divide it into four equal parts.
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Step 2. Teach them how to fold an equilateral triangle.
You can show them first and then they will follow or you ask them to pay attention and everybody will fold as you demo.
This one core of the whole project.
The whole class needs a total of 120 equilateral triangles.
Divide the class and see how many triangles a student should make. You can also group them as long as they whole class can come up to 120 triangles.
I also made a how-to article with pictures in each steps:
How to Make Origami of an Equilateral Triangle
The whole class needs a total of 120 equilateral triangles.
Divide the class and see how many triangles a student should make. You can also group them as long as they whole class can come up to 120 triangles.
I also made a how-to article with pictures in each steps:
How to Make Origami of an Equilateral Triangle
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Step 3. Teach them how to make origami connectors
It is important that you will use the same kind of materials in making this project. For instance, if the class is using an 8" x 11" bond paper or copy paper, then everybody must use the same kind of paper.
From a rectangle ---> bigger square ----> smaller squares (divide it into 4) ------> smallest squares (divide one part into 4 equal parts).
From a rectangle ---> bigger square ----> smaller squares (divide it into 4) ------> smallest squares (divide one part into 4 equal parts).
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Step 4. Connect six triangles and form a hexagon
Prepare six origami connectors (Step 3) and insert it in each pockets of the triangles using a glue.
Remember that we need 20 Hexagons in order to create a soccer ball pattern. Ask students to combine with other groups or other students to come up with your target.
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Step 5. Soccer ball pattern arrangements
At this point, the class should have 20 hexagons altogether.
Make 20 more origami connectors (Step3) to connect all hexagons following the slideshow below. This is one of the slide show of the article about How to make a soccer ball pillow. The same concept but using different materials or course. Since it is a soccer ball pillow, I replaced papers into cloth, balloon into fabric stuffing and glue into needles and thread.
Anyways, back to the project. The last slideshow picture is the final soccer ball final pattern. Wait for few minutes to dry the glue a little bit and when it is safe, connect the remaining edges. Notice that as make the final connections, you form a pentagon (5 sided polygon).
Anyways, back to the project. The last slideshow picture is the final soccer ball final pattern. Wait for few minutes to dry the glue a little bit and when it is safe, connect the remaining edges. Notice that as make the final connections, you form a pentagon (5 sided polygon).
Step 6. Finishing up the project
After connecting all the hexagons from equilateral triangles, let it is dry for a while and when it is ready, insert the black or any dark color balloon inside the soccer ball connected pattern and BLOW it up until it forms the Soccer Ball and tie it up!
The video that you are watching is taken a long time ago when I was conducting a training about the Origami of Geometric Figures in the Philippines. I took part of the video for so that, you can watch part the process of making the soccer ball. I hope it helps.
The video that you are watching is taken a long time ago when I was conducting a training about the Origami of Geometric Figures in the Philippines. I took part of the video for so that, you can watch part the process of making the soccer ball. I hope it helps.
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Conclusion
As seen on the last video, group activity is really fun and exciting strategy to learn mathematics.
Origami and Geometry Resource books
Let's talk about it!
Express your opinion or experiences
Do you think you can teach this in 1 session? Why?
Yes. I can!
Alohagems says:
Of course. I mastered this lesson well. One great tip is to try it first before attempting to demo it in your class.
No, It's impossible
Soccer ball products
Reader Feedback
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Diana A
Apr 23, 2012 @ 2:19 am | delete
- Awesome project. We used it as a way to present soccer. We attached a fact or photo to each of the white faces and using a white paint pen wrote soccer words on the black faces. Thanks for the idea.
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Donna Jane Marcuap
Jun 3, 2011 @ 4:32 am | delete
- very nice origami ,I'll teach my students making one in th future thank you for such a nice article
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aerome
Apr 4, 2011 @ 4:02 am | delete
- Strange that this lens has almost no visits at all... Seems like a fun project to do! ;-)
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Alohagems
Apr 11, 2011 @ 1:35 am | delete
- Thanks aerome. This lens is quite new and news more love.
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by Alohagems
Aloha. My name is Shirley and I am known as alohagems in Squidoo and the blogosphere. I was a High School Mathematics teacher, elementary school teach... more »
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