by 8 people |
Phizz Units - The Origami of Math
This is a lens devoted to showing and explaining what a PHiZZ unit is and how much fun can be had from them.
PHiZZ unit stands for 'Pentagon, Hexagon, Zig Zag' unit. (I don't know where the i comes from, but it sure makes it sound more fun.) The Zig Zag is from the way the unit looks when it isn't used. Pentagon and hexagon are shapes you can make with this unit - which is pretty cool, especially when you realize that all the angles in the unit are either 45 or 90 degrees.
The key to that is the ZigZag. The unit never comes down flat in the final product.
THE HOW TO: ITS HARD TO DESCRIBE IN WORDS
- Fingers, Hands, Arms and Patience
- Lots of little square pieces of Paper (aka origami paper)
HINT:Try using post it notes (the square ones, obviously): the adhesive keeps the Phizz Units Together. Its also cheaper than origami paper and you should practice before making the big investment.
This worksheet found on Tom Hulls Website that gives an excellent introduction and good instruction. But the video's below do an even better job at it.
Creating full scale models of geometric models is of all times...
The Good and the Bad
Experiences
Someone shares their story:I have been working on making a torus for a while now. I also made the the bucky ball above. I'll tell you when you finish, the ball looks awesome. I actually decorated my room with them for several months but as you make larger and more advanced models they become less stable. I was cheap and used mediocre paper which may have something to do with it. However, I found that a little bit of children's stick glue can make them stable and last.
Awsome Videos Provide excellent instruction
If it were easier to show you how to make any of the figures you can with just words I would but these videos do it better than I ever could.
It all began at a Mathematics Conference
Continuing his story:In 2008 I went to a mathematics conference and the presenters had done fascinating things. I saw a guy who dissected the mathematical dynamics of paper rock scissors(and rainstorm/dynamite). I also learned how knitting can depict non-euclidean geometry forms. However, what I found most fascinating was the origami. A young woman had made a three dimensional trefoil knot using thousands of identical folded pieces of paper. It was amazing! If you are not familiar with a trefoil knot, its a lot like a Celtic knot only 3D. Ever since that day I have been folding pieces of paper and trying to make my own elaborate geometric figures.
What's Better?
You tell me!
Is origami better when looked at with math and geometry or is it better when looked from an artistic point of view?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byMath
mrfixit says:
Math! You will never learn anything when you fold a swan or a fish etc. But with math you will learn about things like polyhedron, stellated etc.
Posted March 23, 2009
LeorG says:
MATH!! You can do so much more with origami. In fact, you can origami almost any shape this way.
TED talk on origami showing this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYKcOFQCeno
Posted December 31, 2008
Ener-G says:
Sacred geometry is powerful beyond our comprehension. It brings to mind the Crop Circles, certainly artistic but based on mathematics principles such as phi (the golden ratio). Even how we perceive beauty is based on geometric and mathematic ratios.
Posted December 29, 2008
Math4Fun says:
Mathematics is the root of all things beautiful so of course origami is better that way.
Posted November 26, 2008
Artistic
spirituality says:
Actually even ordinary origami will help kids develop mathematical insight :)
Posted March 23, 2009
Jimmie says:
Why separate them? Art and math have many connections. Don't segregate learning. It's all good.
Posted December 28, 2008
JaguarJulie says:
Gosh, this is a tough question as I can go either way -- analytical or creative. OK, I'll say artistic as origami makes me think of art!
Posted December 28, 2008
spirituality says:
I like both ways of looking at PhiZZ (and origmami) from a mathematical point of view AND from an artistic point of view. Isn't all great math beautiful as well?
So I go for artistic in the end.
Posted December 24, 2008
Origami Paper - go wild with patters and colors :)
A good Place to Start
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- MetalRabbit13
- Check out this "Independent Lens" film "Between the Folds" about origami & math: http://bit.ly/8X9cPl Click on "Watch Preview" to see why.
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- sci_twiterista
- TED Tuesday (29/9/09): Origami using maths: http://linkbee.com/EIY5W Robert Lang demos beautiful n useful items using math n engineering
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- lelewismn
- RT @DonnaB_Art: Akira Yoshizawa and others.. Art of Origami http://bit.ly/12Ieqd .Stunning and wonderful. Math science technology
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- orcasquall
- And math. RT @GuyKawasaki: What Origami can teach us about product requirements http://om.ly/diKz
Project Origami: Activities for Exploring Mathematics
Project Origami: Activities for Exploring Mathematics
Amazon Price: $35.10 (as of 01/08/2010)
This is it - the book that explains it all. It has the folding patterns, how to put the origami units together and more. Including great pictures.
This is a must have for any kid good with math and with their hand :) [and would perhaps make a good gift for kids who aren't good with their hands, but will be fascinated anyhow. Perhaps they will become good with their hands.]
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Phizz Unit Phun
Good Sites
- Origami Math
- Great Site that give step by step instructions on how to construct the units and build the figures.
- Modular Origami
- Neat Origami. This definitely takes skill.
- Tom Hull - The Inventors - Site
- The inventor's website
- Tom Hull's Worksheet
- This is the introductory project by Tom Hull. Very interesting and an excellent way to start
Phizz Unit Construction
BUCKY BALL
models folded the last two months, origami on the run!
I learned how to do this from
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Have you Tried it yet?
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Reply
- spirituality spirituality Sep 7, 2009 @ 4:30 am | in reply to dchmelik
- You can make both the regular and the irregular kind using phizz :)
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Reply
- dchmelik dchmelik Sep 7, 2009 @ 3:20 am
- This is a fascinating lens! I have not tried it yet... the photo looks like a pretty regular stellated polyhedron but I should see if it is one of those or just mostly regular. It would be interesting to try anyway.
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Reply
- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Aug 24, 2009 @ 5:18 am
- Thank you for adding this lens to the Back to School Group Headquarters. Making origami is such a fun, hands-on way to explore geometry. What a great idea for back to school.
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Reply
- _Joan_ _Joan_ Aug 23, 2009 @ 10:52 pm
- Thanks for giving me this link! There were several people around who had one or two good math teaching lenses, so I'm pulling them together in a math lensography that I'll add to SquidooSchooling.
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Reply
- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Mar 13, 2009 @ 8:49 am
- Origami is a wonderful activity to combine art and math allowing children to visually and tactilely understand mathematical concepts.
Thank you for linking to Hands-On Math.
- Load More
Robert Lang about the math in Origami
These video is not about PHiZZ - it's about some of the other magic that has been done with origami.
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