Encouraging:

School children in Cerro Condor Argentina learning with PatagoniaMath coin frames Click photo to enlarge (75K)	A hexagonal PatagoniaMath Can Frame filled with drinks cans of different colours Click photo to enlarge (99K)

• interest in mathematics, art, design and engineering
• creativity
• dexterity
• strategic planning
• group cooperation and management

Suitability: adaptable for any age

Equipment:

specially designed frames carefully constructed so as to:

• snugly enclose hexagonal close packed or square arrays of 169 objects of similar circular cross-section, such as checkers, coins, cans, canisters, bottles or buttons
• permit the objects to be removed, or rearranged easily
• permit the objects to remain in particular configurations in a horizontal or possible sloping or vertical position

Activity Examples

• making patterns with the objects for which the frame was designed
• investigating symmetry
• investigating how the maximum number of objects can be stacked within a square
• investigating squares, rightangled triangles and pythagorean triples
• analysing the relationships between the number of objects in a hexagonal array and the number along each side
• analysing the relationships between the dimensions of the frames and the dimensions of the particular objects.
• using sloping or vertical frames, experimenting into:
  • how objects of circular cross-section can be stacked either close packed,or, in rows and vertical columns
  • how objects in some positions can be removed without affecting the stability whereas others cannot
  • how with some structures physical constraints are needed to achieve stability
• working as a team against the clock or other teams, mentally or physically, for example developing the most efficient way of undertaking particular manual tasks
• creative decoration /labelling / numbering of frames and objects
• consideration of related activities, including using several frames, to stimulate interest in mathematics art, design and engineering

Based on: - the Golden Hexagon of Patagonia

License/Copyright: Magic Penny Trust

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