Activity "Rope Polygons"
For this week’s activity, I chose to modify Rosenfeld’s “Rope Polygons”. This fits in nicely with my two units on Geometry (Angles and Polygons; Perimeter, Area, and Volume). It is a kinesthetic way for students to model these shapes and to integrate core competency skills. I have also included questions for students to consider and explore. (Note: I teach at an International Baccalaureate (IB) school, so some of the terminologies stem from their curriculum).
I tried doing this activity on my own with some string. What I noticed was that it was much more difficult to create regular polygons as I had limitations to the angles and distances between my fingers. I feel if students were asked to do this, there would be a sense of struggle and perhaps more engagement to think creatively. This activity did remind me a bit of the game "Cat's Cradle", where depending on how you play, can result in various string figures.
