Ball and Triangle Game

The Instructions

Ball and Triangle

Designing and cutting the board for the game.

Step 1: Design your board in Illustrator or Corel ( this instructables is using corel.) Design your shape, remember a triangle is the traditional shape but it can be any shape you want. Make sure to set the line weight at .001 so it will cut. This is where you can discuss aspects of triangles like types and properties as well as Pythagorean theorem, and really discuss the common core math standards.

Step 2: Make the circle in your board for the ball to go through slightly larger than the ball is going to be. The ball we are making is 1.25” in diameter so the hole will be 1.5” in diameter. Center the hole on the board, or put it anywhere if you want a more challenging game. You can discuss the types of centers that triangles can have like Circumcenter, Incenter, Centroid, or orthocenter and the ways to construct and find them.

Step 3: Make another circle in one of the corners to attach the string with a diameter of .25”. Put this circle in one of the corners.

Step 4: Choose images or create images to put on the board to be laser engraved.

Step 5: Using the 12”x12” sheet go to the laser and Raster and Vector cut your image, using the settings appropriate for your laser and material being used. Remember DO NOT leave the laser running UNATTENDED.

Making the Ball for the game.

Using a lathe to create the ball for the game.

Standards

(HSG.MG.A1): Use geometric shapes, their measures, and their properties to describe objects (e.g., modeling a tree trunk or a human torso as a cylinder).*
(4.G.A2): Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles.
(6.G.A1): Find the area of right triangles, other triangles, special quadrilaterals, and polygons by composing into rectangles or decomposing into triangles and other shapes; apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems.
(7.G.A2): Draw (freehand, with ruler and protractor, and with technology) geometric shapes with given conditions. Focus on constructing triangles from three measures of angles or sides, noticing when the conditions determine a unique triangle, more than one triangle, or no triangle.
(8.G.A5): Use informal arguments to establish facts about the angle sum and exterior angle of triangles, about the angles created when parallel lines are cut by a transversal, and the angle-angle criterion for similarity of triangles. For example, arrange three copies of the same triangle so that the sum of the three angles appears to form a line, and give an argument in terms of transversals why this is so.
(8.G.B7): Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to determine unknown side lengths in right triangles in real-world and mathematical problems in two and three dimensions.
(HSG.CO.D13): Construct an equilateral triangle, a square, and a regular hexagon inscribed in a circle.
(HSG.C.A3): Construct the inscribed and circumscribed circles of a triangle, and prove properties of angles for a quadrilateral inscribed in a circle.

Common Core Standards

Ball and Triangle Game

Lesson Details

Author

Summary

What You'll Need

The Instructions