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The Geometry Center's 6-foot icosahedron
In the summer of 1994, the
Geometry Center and the University of
Minnesota Mathematics Office of Special Projects jointly sponsored a
four-week summer enrichment course for females, underrepresented
minorities, and economically disadvantaged students in grades 6-8.
The first two weeks involved over 80 students and touched on a wide
variety of topics; the second two weeks involved 24 students and was
an in-depth exploration of the mathematics of planar isometries,
symmetry groups, and the Platonic and Archimedean solids.
The last two weeks of the program made extensive use of the Geometry
Center. The students met at the Geometry Center five times to use the
Center's facilities and Center-produced software. As a closing group
project of the solids unit, the students constructed what we believe
to be the
world's largest icosahedron built out of paper. (The
icosahedron stands just under six feet tall!) This event was covered
by two television stations and a newspaper. The icosahedron, the
symbol of the
Mathematical Association of America (MAA),
was prominently displayed at the MAA booth at Mathfest, the joint summer
meeting of the MAA and the
American Mathematical Society.
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