Three Dimensional Snowflakes
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3-D Paper Snowflake INSTRUCTIONAL LESSON and more!
6 point Snowflake Instructions
Snowflake Engineering
Snowflake Facts 101
Snowflake Animals
Snowflake Gallery
Fractals
BIG IDEA: Students will create a kinetic three dimensional radial design sculpture using two dimensional materials. These sculptures will adorn the hallways for a winter wonderland and create a sense of comm(unity), pride and purpose.
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ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What might the importance of nature, radial design and the connection to real world applications in engineering have to do with a snowflake?
Radial balance / symmetry is any type of balance based on a circle with its design extending from center. A Snowflake, a star, the iris around each pupil of your eyes, a wheel with spokes, and a daisy (among many flowers and other plant forms) are examples of radial balance.
Noun1. radial symmetry - the property of symmetry about an axis; "the starfish illustrates radial symmetry" symmetricalness, symmetry, correspondence, balance - (mathematics) an attribute of a shape or relation; exact reflection of form on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane.
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MAGNET THEME CONNECTIONS:
KEY KNOWLEDGE:
STUDENTS WILL:
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ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What might the importance of nature, radial design and the connection to real world applications in engineering have to do with a snowflake?
Radial balance / symmetry is any type of balance based on a circle with its design extending from center. A Snowflake, a star, the iris around each pupil of your eyes, a wheel with spokes, and a daisy (among many flowers and other plant forms) are examples of radial balance.
Noun1. radial symmetry - the property of symmetry about an axis; "the starfish illustrates radial symmetry" symmetricalness, symmetry, correspondence, balance - (mathematics) an attribute of a shape or relation; exact reflection of form on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane.
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MAGNET THEME CONNECTIONS:
- A good reason to study snowflakes is to better understand structure formation and self-assembly. Humans usually make a thing by starting with a block of material and carving from it. Computers, for example, are made by patterning intricate circuits on silicon wafers. Nature uses a completely different approach to manufacturing. In nature, things simply assemble themselves. A snowflake is an very simple example of self-assembly. There is no blueprint or genetic code that guides the growth of a snowflake, yet marvelously complex structures appear, quite literally out of thin air. As we understand better how snowflakes form, we learn about self-assembly. As the electronics industry pushes toward ever smaller devices, it is likely that self-assembly will play an increasingly important role in manufacturing. Learning about self-assembly from the ground up will probably by useful in this context also. Again, in the study of basic science we try to solve the easy problems first (like snowflakes), and later use that knowledge to develop engineering applications we cannot yet foresee.
- "The sixfold symmetry of a snowflake suggests that when you add an atom to the point of one of the six spurs, the other five points become more attractive ... add an atom to the side of a spur, and we're dealing with twelve separate sites (twenty-four if the atom is off the plane). Add an atom to a side-branch, and a copy of the electrical-field image of that single atom is transmitted and reflected and multiplied and refocused at potentially tens of corresponding sites on the crystal surface. And that's for every atom in the crystal. This would be beyond fibre-optics, and beyond conventional holography. It'd be multi-focus holography, and the holographically-controlled assembly of matter at atomic scales to match a source pattern – making multiple copies without destroying the original. It'd be using holographic projection to assemble multiple macroscopic structures that are atom-perfect copies of an original. And that idea should make the hairs on the back of your neck start to stand up". Eric Bard - The Other Side of Science"
- Engineers use radial design for fly wheels and turbines in locomotives, air and space crafts. A turbine is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. In a wind turbine it converts kinetic energy from the wind, also called wind energy, into mechanical energy; a process known as wind power.
KEY KNOWLEDGE:
- To develop an appreciation for complex structures in nature.
- To observe patterns in nature in relationship to the Real World.
- To use observation skills to assist in problem solving.
- To show understanding of the concepts of spatial relationships, symmetry, reflections, congruency, and similarity by completing a snowflake fractal.
STUDENTS WILL:
- Create a simple technology-based project applying art, math, science, and social studies skills.
- Be given a verbal description and visual lesson, and create a three-dimensional shape and use appropriate geometric vocabulary.