By David Shaw, 23 January 2018
What kinds of shapes pack a flat surface with no gaps? Squares are great for floor tiles, and bees stick hexagons together. With a bit of work, you can get any triangle, no matter how stretched, to fit together without gaps. But what about pentagons? These five-sided shapes are awkward, but some types fit together.
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By David Shaw, 27 September 2017
Have you ever made a paper snowflake? Here’s a different twist on a classic craft activity.
By David Shaw, 27 June 2017
Time to create a map! Making a map of the entire Earth is tricky, because paper is flat, and planets are curved. There are lots of different ways to ‘flatten’ Earth, and each way produces a different shaped map. This method is super spiky as it involves triangles.
By David Shaw, 16 May 2017
Maths is everywhere! But it can be hard to find if you don’t know what to look for. Try this mathematical treasure hunt and you’ll soon discover some amazing mathematical secrets!
By David Shaw, 20 March 2017
Here’s a quick puzzle for you – this square is too wide for its envelope. Can you find a way to make it fit?
By David Shaw, 20 January 2017
Written by Rachael Vorwerk Inside a small sample of powder, there hides a gigantic secret. In just a teaspoon of the stuff you’ll find the entire surface area of a football field. It sounds like something from Back to the Future, but for CSIRO scientists it’s the norm.
By David Shaw, 19 December 2016
Feeling festive? This cool mathematical bauble is fun to make, and looks great too!
By David Shaw, 15 December 2016
Picture this: you’ve just bought a nice little cake, just for you. Then your friends show up, wanting a piece. Lucky for you, mathematicians have developed some pretty cool ways of sharing.
By David Shaw, 25 November 2016
There are plenty of patterns inside a flower. Let’s follow one and see what drawing we get!
By David Shaw, 18 November 2016
Tired of tic-tac-toe? Try Achi, a trickier game from the African country of Ghana.
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