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Our task was to create a soccer ball using dry spaghetti and mini marshmallows.

  • Our Process.

We started by using the spaghetti to create multiple pentagons of the approximate same size. From there we crossed spaghetti across the pentagon to make the pentagons more stable and durable. After that our plan was to connect all of the pentagons in a net formation that we could fold into a 3D soccer ball/ spherical shape. Unfortunatly we did not get this far and only managed to get a net formation started.

  • What did you learn/ change?

we started by using full pieces for spaghetti connected with marshmallows to create our pentagons. From there my group realized that they were too floppy and breakable. To fix this problem we broke the spaghetti pieces in half so we would have smaller shapes. Even with this adjustment our pentagons were still too flimsy, so we added one additional spaghetti piece to each side of the pentagons to help them hold together better and nit snap. After that we figured that our shapes were bending when we tried to fold them into a 3D soccer ball shape. To fix this we crossed spaghetti pieces through the pentagons to create a more stable structure. Even then we realized that the pentagons were not holding together enough to shape them into a soccer ball so we reduced the side lengths again by 1/2. This sized seemed to be working so far for our soccer ball so we were starting to work on creating the soccer ball shape.

  • How is this a math problem?

This is a math problem because you can’t make a soccer ball without geometry. Soccer balls are made up of pentagons, and hexagons. In order to complete this task effectively you need to have a knowledge of multiple math concepts in geometry. To make a soccer ball you need to be able to create pentagons, create hexagons, make net figures, and make 3D objects from net figures.