Symmetry and iconic buildings.

-

 Hello guys! Today's post will be about how geometry has influenced the creation and construction of several emblematic buildings during history. 

From the ancient civilizations to modern skycrapers, architecture has been always a tangible expression of geometry. Shapes, proportions and symmentires not only beautify the strucuture but also define its stability and function. Geometry has been used foe centuries to create structures that are balanced and resistant, it is not a coincidence that many of the most admirable buildings in the world are based on geometric principles. 

Here you can see some examples: 

  1. The Eiffel Tower in Paris. 

This ionic building situated in France, is a clear example of axial symmetry which means that if you write a line in the middle of the monument, each part would be almost identical. This parts are called mirror images because it is represented as a mirror reflection. 



How can we show the symmetry of the Eiffel Tower in class? We need to follow this steps: 

  • First, we need to use a frontal image of the monument.
  • Use a ruler in order to mark the middle of the image. 
  • Draw a straight vertical line that goes through the very top until the end of the structure. 
Once we have followed all the steps, we have drawn the axis of the symmetry, which is the line. 

4. The Pisa Tower. 

On the other hand, this building situated in Italy, it is a very curious example of symmetry challenges. At first, the idea of the construction of  this monument was quite different form the final version, all due to the symmetry and tilt. 

The original version of this building should be perfectly upright, the symmetry of the monument should have been axial, just like the Eiffel Tower one, and also rotary symmetry, which means that you could route around he building and have he same perspective. 

The currently version of this building is very curious, the monument is tilted so the axial symmetry is broken due to the vertical axis is skewed but the rotary symmetry has been maintained. 



How can we show the symmetry of the Pisa Tower? 

  • Use a frontal image of the monument. 
  • Imagine vertical line as if the building was perfectly vertical. 
  • Draw this vertical line. 
Once we have drawn the line, we will see that each side are not mirror images, so that he symmetry is not axial. 

Regarding this two activities, we will be able to show the differences between axial symmetry in two different monuments so they would be more motivated to carry out the exercise. 

Then we would do an activity related to this, which is based on creating a building which have the same kind of symmetry as the Eiffel Tower or Pisa Tower in order to check if the students have learnt what is axial symmetry. For example, they could draw a creative building and then follow the same steps that they would have done previously with the French monument. They could use this worksheet: 




Here you can access to a video about symmetry in different buildings: 





That is everything for today. Thank you so much for reading me! I will see you soon. 

References: 

Behind a great project. (S.f.) Torre Eiffel. https://behindagreatproject.com/es/structure/torre-eiffel/

Kececi, K. (2024). Torre inclinada de Pisa. https://dokmimarlik.com/es/torre-inclinada-de-pisa-ikon-trapezoid/

Comentarios

Publicar un comentario

Entradas populares de este blog

Let's practice length exercises!

-
Imagen
  Hello guys! In today’s post I am going to talk about length and how to work with it in a classroom.  First of all, length is a physic magnitude which we measure the distance between two points with. Its principal unit of measure is the metre but it is composed by this units:  This is the metre scale, we use this as stairs because it is more visual and easy to remember for the kids. Each step is a change of measure, when the steps are for going up, the measure loses quantity but when the steps are for going down, the measure acquires quantity. In order to understand this scale, kids only have to think as if they were going up or down stairs, this way they will easily remember the different calculations that they have to carry out.  In order to practise length exercises, here you can find some examples depending on the difficulty level:  Level 1:  Peter’s pencil measures 15 centimetres. Ana’s pencil measures 10 centimeters. How much longer is Pedro’s pencil...
Leer más

Did you know about triangle different meanings?

-
Imagen
Hello everybody!  As my second post, I have created a presentation about a curiosity of the triangles. These shapes have developed a very important role during history because the first studies of the triangles began 3000 years ago.  There are plenty of studies about triangles as it is a very interesting figure because it has a lot of areas that can be studied. Also, this shape is the protagonist of different theorems so it presented many challenges to mathematics along the history of maths. For this reason, triangles has been given different kind of meanings during all this years, would you like to know them? Here you can access to the presentation:  https://www.canva.com/design/DAGkH0Dj8q8/W4_foUvc9YojYNCZMAf6BQ/edit?utm_content=DAGkH0Dj8q8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton Here you can find a video about triangles' meanings:  That is all for today. Thank you so much, I will see you soon! References:  Bravo, D. (2023)...
Leer más