Building an Icosahedron in the Classroom (Science U)

A Teacher's Guide to Building the Icosahedron as a Class Project

Next: Materials needed

Article by Frederick J. Wicklin

Introduction

An icosahedron is a geometric solid consisting of twenty faces. Each face is an equilateral triangle and every vertex of the icosahedron is formed by five triangular faces that come together. This document describes how to build an icosahedron as a class project. The size is up to you. During the summer of 1994, students in a summer enrichment program at the University of Minnesota's Geometry Center built a "world record" icosahedron with edge lengths just under 37 inches.

Materials needed
Cutting the template
Coloring the faces
Assembling the structure
Exercise: How big is your icoshedron?
The Geometry Center's 6-foot icosahedron
Variations

Next: Materials needed

Introduction

Contents