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 Nomad Press
A division of Nomad Communications
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Copyright © 2010 by Nomad Press
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from
the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
The trademark “Nomad Press” and the Nomad Press logo are trademarks of Nomad Communications, Inc.

This book was manufactured by Sheridan Books,

Ann Arbor, MI USA.
July 2010, Job # 317531
ISBN: 978-1-934670-57-6

Illustrations by Samuel Carbaugh

This publication includes models from Pedagoguery Software Inc.’s Poly Pro (www.peda.com/polypro ).

Questions regarding the ordering of this book should be addressed to

Independent Publishers Group
814 N. Franklin St.
Chicago, IL 60610
www.ipgbook.com

Nomad Press
2456 Christian St.
White River Junction, VT 05001
www.nomadpress.net
Nomad Press is committed to preserving ancient forests
and natural resources. We elected to print Amazing
Math Projects You Can Build Yourself on 4,507 lbs. of
Williamsburg Recycled 30% offset.

Nomad Press made this paper choice because our printer,

Sheridan Books, is a member of Green Press Initiative,
a nonprofit program dedicated to supporting authors,
publishers, and suppliers in their efforts to reduce their
use of fiber obtained from endangered forests. For more
information, visit www.greenpressinitiative.org
Other titles from Nomad Press
 Contents
Introduction to Math • 1
Section I: Numbers & Counting • 3
Counting in Different Numeral Systems • 5
Abacus • 9 Fractions • 23
Triangular Numbers • 13 Fibonacci Sequence • 27
Square Numbers • 17 Golden Ratio • 31
Prime Numbers • 20

Section II: Angles, Curves, and Paths • 36

Angles • 37 Paths • 53
Parabolas • 45 Random Walk • 58
Ellipses • 49 Shortest Shoelace • 63
Cutting a Cone • 51

Section III: Shapes • 66

Polygons • 67 Tetrahedron • 88
Triangles • 71 Icosahedron • 93
Stars • 74 Pyramids • 96
Circles • 77 Geodesic Domes • 98
Möbius Strip • 80 Hyperboloids • 101
Platonic Solids • 83 Hyperbolic Paraboloids • 108

Section IV: Patterns • 111

String Art • 112 Distorted Images • 124
Bubbles • 116 Tilings and Patterns • 128
Snowflakes • 121

Solutions Glossary Resources Index

 INTRODUCTION
to
MATH

G
rab some paper. Get
out your scissors and tape. It
is time to make some math.
Yes, that’s right: math is more than
just a pencil-and-paper activity! In
this book you will explore, create, and
experiment with math. In the process,
you’ll find math in all sorts of unlikely
places. There is math in bubbles,
snowflakes, and stars. There is math
in buildings, bridges, and art. Without
math, you couldn’t use computers,
travel by car, or watch TV, because it is
essential to all of these inventions.

Math exercises the logical left side of your brain.

But this book will also work the right half of your brain, as you investigate
patterns and seek out spatial relationships. Build the models in this book.
Do the activities. You will have fun and learn more by holding these models
in your hands and seeing how they work.

1·1·1·1·1 1 1·1·1·1·1
  Introduction to Math 
I hope you’ll discover that math is more than just fractions and
multiplication tables. It is as beautiful as a sunflower, as challenging as a
puzzle, and as fun as a video game. The skills you learn in math class are
vital, but not the only goal. Instead, they are tools you can use to discover,
figure out, and create things.
If a topic in this book sparks your interest, please visit the companion
website at www.amazingmathprojects.com for more information and
activities. The website also has video instructions for many of the projects
in this book. So if you learn better by observing, rather than reading
directions, be sure to check it out.

Project Tips
Some projects use templates that are printed in this book. You can either
photocopy the templates or download templates from the website to print
out. To make sturdy card stock templates, photocopy the templates onto
regular paper, then staple the paper to card stock. The staples will keep
the templates from moving as you cut out the pieces. When you are done,
you can throw away the regular paper, and you will be left with clean card
stock templates that don’t have lines printed on them.
You can use recycled items from around the house for the projects. Instead
of buying card stock, for example, use old manila folders. Or use empty
cereal boxes for boxboard.

2·2·2·2·2 2 2·2·2·2·2
 Numbers & =0
000=0

0=0000
section

000 00
Counting 1

=0
00
=0
000=0

D
o numbers have their own personalities? In this
section you’ll discover properties of numbers that
set them apart from each other. Numbers can
be triangular, square, or cubic. Numbers can be prime
or perfect. One number is even called “golden.” This
number holds a special place in art and architecture and
shows up in the most unlikely of places.

3·3·3·3·3 3 3·3·3·3·3
  Numbers & Counting 
You might think that there is not much more to learn
about counting. After all, you probably learned to
count when you were very young. The way that you
were taught to count is not the only way! We use
10 digits when we count and write numbers, but
different cultures throughout history
have used other systems.
In this section, we’ll explore what it
is like to use a system of numbers with
only five digits. Computers use even
fewer. They work with numbers represented by only
ones and zeros.
Let’s explore the world of numbers to see what surprises
it has in store for us.

WORDS + 2 + KNOW
prime number: a number larger
than 1 with only two factors: 1 and
itself.

Mathematicians think that perfect number: a number whose

factors (excluding the number itself)
every even number greater add up to that number.
than 2 is the sum of two factor: a number that divides
prime numbers, but they evenly into another number. For
aren’t totally sure. Even example, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6,
though mathematicians used and 12 are factors of 12. To factor a
number is to find the numbers that
computers to verify that divide evenly into that number.
this is the case for every
number up to one quintillion digit: a symbol used to write a
number.
(1,000,000,000,000,000,000),
they haven’t proven that it
mathematician: an expert in
math.
works for all even numbers.

4·4·4·4·4 4 4·4·4·4·4
❂ Counting in Different
Numeral Systems

It is so natural for us to use 10 digits to write numbers that

we might not realize that there are other ways to do it.
However, if we all had hands like Homer Simpson’s, with
only 4 fingers on each hand, we’d probably find it more
natural to use 8 digits instead of 10.

In this imaginary world, we could still count as high as we wanted and

add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers using only the digits zero
through seven. We might even find it easier to learn multiplication facts,
because we would need to memorize up to only seven times seven!
Why doesn’t it matter how many digits a number system has? The
main reason is that we write numbers with place values. Each number
has a ones’ place, a tens’ place, a hundreds’ (10 x 10) place, and
so on.

5·5·5·5·5 5 5·5·5·5·5
  Numbers & Counting 
For example, for the number 117, there are seven elements in the
ones’ place, one element in the tens’ place, and one element in the
hundreds’ place. Since each place is 10 times as great as the previous
one, our system is called a base-10 system, or a
decimal system. The word decimal comes from the Latin
word decem, which means “ten.” In our imaginary
world, numbers would have a ones’ place, an
eights’ place, and a sixty-fours‘ (8 x 8) place. It
would be a base-8, or octal system.
Almost 4,000 years ago, the ancient Babylonians
wrote numbers in a base-60 system. To represent the
number 73, for example, they drew a symbol for 1
( ) next to a symbol for 13 ( ), showing one
group of 60 plus thirteen 1s. The Babylonians’ system didn’t have
a symbol for zero, though. So you couldn’t be sure whether the symbol
alone meant 1 or 60!
Understanding how to use number systems with different bases is
important in computer programming. Computers store numbers in a base-
2, or binary, system. The number 73,
for example, is 1001001 in binary. WORDS + + KNOW 2
Base-16, or hexadecimal, is a system base 10: a number system with
used to specify colors in web pages. The 10 digits, the numbers 0 through 9.
color sea green, for example, is 2E8B57 decimal: a base-10 number system
in hexadecimal. Notice the letters mixed (digits 0 through 9).
in with the numbers. Since hexadecimal octal: a base-8 number system
numbers use 16 digits, they use the (digits 0 through 7).
first 6 letters of the alphabet, A–F, to binary: a base-2 number system
represent the numbers 10–15. (digits 0 and 1), used by computers
to store data.
Instead of using letters, we could have
invented new symbols for these digits. hexadecimal: a base-16 number
system (digits 0 through 9 and letters
Wouldn’t it be fun to design them? A through F).
What would your symbols look like?

6·6·6·6·6 6 6·6·6·6·6
 Learn Base-5 with Money
Our system of writing numbers is called base-
10 because we use 10 digits: the numbers 0
through 9. Let’s try writing numbers with
a base-5 system, using only the digits 0
through 4.

1
Draw three columns on a piece of paper.
Label the first (left) column “25,” the
second (middle) column “5,” and the
third (right) column “1.” Each column
represents a number that is 5 times
larger than the number of the column Supplies
to its right.
=
2
+
2
• paper
Using the fewest possible coins, • pencil
place quarters, nickels, and
1 =
• mixture of pennies,

+2
pennies in the proper columns nickels, and quarters

0
(quarters = “25” column, nickels = (about 20 coins in all)
“5” column, pennies = “1” column)
until you have 73 cents on the paper.

Did you get 2 quarters, 4

nickels, and 3 pennies?
Perfect! You just figured out
how to write the number
73 in base-5: 243base-5. The
base-5 in small letters tells
We still use the base-60 number
us that the number 243
system developed by the ancient
represents 2 quarters (2 x
Babylonians in order to tell time.
25 = 50 cents), 4 nickels
This is why we have 60 seconds in (4 x 5 = 20 cents), and 3
1 minute and 60 minutes in 1 hour. pennies (3 x 1 = 3 cents).

7
 Make Base-5 Conversions
How do you represent the numbers 45 and 124 in base-5?

1
Place coins in the correct
columns on the paper to figure
this out. Note that you should
never need more than four coins
of any type. For example, if you
have 5 pennies on the paper, you In our decimal (base-10)
system, it is very easy to
can replace them with 1 nickel.

2
multiply by 10: just add a zero
How much money do to the end of the number that
you have if you have you are multiplying by 10. For
314base-5? example, 65 × 10 = 650. In a

3
base-5 system, it is equally
What does 1000base-5 easy to multiply by 5: just
represent? Hint: you add a zero to the end of the
will need to add a fourth number you are multiplying
column (“125” = 25 x 5). See by 5. For example, 314base-5
multiplied by 5 is 3140base-5.
page 131 for the solutions to
How would you multiply by 2 in
these problems. the binary system?

Try to do some simple arithmetic entirely in base-5. For

example, add 234base-5 and 142base-5. Basic addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division still work with numbers in different
bases. You just need to make sure that the final number is
correctly expressed in that base.
For example, 4base-5 + 2base-5 doesn’t equal 6base-5 because there is
no such number. Since base-5 uses only the digits 0 through 4,
you write the decimal number 6 as 11base-5.

8
❂ Abacus

For thousands of years,

people used marks in
the sand, pebbles on a
board, or beads on an
abacus to help them add
and subtract numbers. Some
shopkeepers in China and
Japan still use an abacus
to calculate how much their
customers owe. They do it as
quickly as they could on an
electronic calculator.

WORDS + 2 + KNOW
abacus: an instrument used to Roman numerals are tricky
perform calculations by moving beads.
to work with because they
sorobon: a Japanese abacus. don’t have place values. To
earthly bead: a bead on an solve problems, the Romans
abacus with a value of 1. translated their numerals
heavenly bead: a bead on an onto an abacus, carried out
abacus with a value of 5. the necessary calculations,
and then translated the
results back into Roman
numerals.

9·9·9·9·9 9 9·9·9·9·9
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