Math Football

1. Explain your Process

A hexagon was our intended shape for our spaghetti and marshmallow football. We knew that the football (soccer ball) was normally made up of hexagons, but opted not to use pentagons, which later turned out to be our mistake. We broke the spaghetti noodles into quarters, then made copies of hexagons with the spaghetti by connecting the noodle pieces with mini marshmallows. After we thought we made enough hexagons, we connected them together with 1/8 spaghetti noodle pieces until we had created a net. We made 2 of these nets, but they were still unable to hold up its shape. Therefore we attached spaghetti pieces that were individually measured from one corner of every hexagon to the opposite one. It vaguely resembled spokes of a tire. Every individual hexagon could hold up its shape then, but if we had more time, we might’ve been able to connect the 2 nets and form a proper football.

2. What did you Learn?

After watching the video, I learned that footballs were made with both hexagons and pentagons. I also found out that there is a 3-dimensional shape called an icosahedron which is made up of triangles.

3. How is This a Math Problem?

This is a math problem because it includes problem-solving and geometry aspects. We had to choose a geometrical form to base our football off of, as well as calculate measurements to ensure everything fit properly and could work. We had to think under the pressure of having a certain amount of time to complete it, as well as put our minds together to come up with a creative design since we were only given spaghetti noodles and mini marshmallows.