Geometry students turn recycled household items into math

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Photo credit: Bridget Heh

Mr. Zehnder’s geometry students show off their tin men.

For the past week, Mr. Zehnder’s geometry students have been in the 2nd floor Innovation Studio constructing tin men.

The project is part of their 3-D figures unit.

He collected materials such as tissue boxes, toilet paper rolls, and cardboard boxes.

 

His students then created any figure they wanted to; most students made a figure looking like a person, out of the recycled items.

To relate this back to the unit they were working on, the students then had to find the surface area of their tin man.

With their calculated surface area, they were given just the right amount of tin foil to cover it. So if they made a mistake in their calculations, they would be able to see it, and why it would make a difference in the real world.

Mr. Zehnder said, “My students have been working hard this past unit, and I thought this was a good way to reward them.”

Junior Ryan Anderson said, “I agree that this is a nice break from just sitting in the classroom, writing on paper. I also like to build things, so this is fun for me.”