Week 15: String Art

This is a classic, yet fun activity with math:

• Start with a compass or protractor and create a circle with evenly spaced points around it. Students can figure out how many degrees need to be between points (example: if you want 10 points, then there are 36 degrees between each point, for 9 points : 40 degrees, etc.)
• Draw your circle and points on a board
• Place pins or nails in your board
• Wrap string in various patterns and see what emerges.
  • Students can study remainders (mod functions), multiplication, and sequences.
  • Star patterns, secondary polyhedra, and cardioids may emerge.
• If you don’t have wood and nails, then this can be done on paper with a pencil and ruler or sewing with string on paper.
• Encourage students to look at other shapes, axese, or lines and create works of art. (boards can be painted, multiple colors and thicknesses of string can be used, and students can contemplate 3-dimensional approaches for this art (like with dowels).

There is a flipbook and more activities with this math found here.

Here are a lot more activities with string in this post.