Geometry - Making a Paper Plate Icosahedron

An Icosahedron is a 3D Shape with 20 Sides!

Materials

• 20 small plates
• stapler
• crayons/markers (optional)

Directions

• Students could color or decorate the plates, if desired.

• Next, fold each plate into a triangle.

• Staple 2 plates together. Use 3 staples.
• Attach 3 more plates and form a pentagon.

• Repeat the last 2 steps with 5 more plates to make another pentagon.
• Staple the 10 remaining plates together into a long chain.

• Staple the ends of the chain together to form a circle.

• Staple one pentagon to the top of the circle and the other pentagon to the bottom of the circle.

 You can now display your 3D figure on a table or hang it from the ceiling.



Math Facts

An icosahedron has:

• 20 triangular faces (sides)
• 12 vertices (corners) 
• 30 edges

Here is a cool video of an icosahedron.

Have fun with geometry!