We love Robots! Challenge your Children: What do these Magna-Tiles Robots have in common? What makes them different?
Similarities: They all have a cube for a head… or a brain?! Each has two arms and two legs. Two of them (#2 and #3) used Isosceles Triangles for their upper limbs: #2 has square pyramids and #3 simply balances the isosceles triangles pointing forward.
Differences: Only one of them has eyes! Three fourths of them have an additional shape/piece on top (#1, #2, #3 and not #4)… are they sensors? The Clear Colors robots have a vertical line of symmetry! The left and right sides are mirror images of each other. The Magna-Tiles Solid Colors Robot does not because his two upper limbs are different on the left and right side… he is dancing!
Encourage children to be observant and describe their Magna-Tiles Creations. Children will naturally incorporate symmetry in their designs!
Magna-Tects made Ferris Wheels out of Magna-Tiles and placed small items inside! Rectangular Prisms make the base and the Shape of a Hexagon makes the Wheel… nice work! All three Ferris Wheels are the same height and display vertical symmetry.
Have you ever ridden a ferris wheel?! The creator of the Ferris Wheel is engineer George W.G. Ferris Jr.! He was born on Valentine’s Day Feburary 14, 1859. This year, Google celebrated his 154th Birthday by displaying the Google Doodle below! It shows a scene with two, side-by-side Ferris Wheels in an amusement park.
George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. began his career in the railroad industry and was interested in bridge building. He founded a company, G.W.G. Ferris & Co., to test and inspect metals for railroads and bridge builders. In 1893, he traveled to Chicago, Illinois for the World’s Columbian Exposition. There was a challenge to American Engineers to to conceive a monument for the fair.
The Original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel
Ferris wanted to build a structure to outdo the Eiffel Tower, the centerpiece of the Paris Exhibition of 1889. The Exhibition’s Planners were looking for something “original, daring, and unique”. His wheel was modeled on a bicycle wheel! It had heavy steel beams as spokes to maintain the wheel’s shape and balance and two steel girder pyramids in which the axle was set. Here are more interesting/awesome facts:
the wheel was 264 feet high
the supporting towers were 140 feet high
the axle weighed 46 1/2 tons!
it cost 50 cents (equal to the Exhibition’s general admission charge) for a 20-minute ride
it carried an estimated 1 1/2 million visitors at the Exhibition
Ferris’ innovative design, a model of efficiency, allowed it to withstand Chicago’s infamous winds while being able to hold about five times the 1,200 tons that it did carry fully loaded. It was a huge success! Please visit here to learn all about George Ferris (1859-1896) as an Inventor.
Four year-old Magna-Tect’s most recent Magna-Tiles Snowflake Structure!
Top View. Symmetry is pretty!
Side View. We spy a Hexagonal Pyramid! Do you see it?
Top View. Impressive design and Magna-Tiles building!
Compare the Top View and Side View! Notice all of the triangular prisms, balanced Triangles, and beautiful symmetrical design. It looks like the most inner pattern is a Hexagon made of Six Equilateral Triangles. Cool!
What shapes can we use to make the curve at the top of the heart? Right triangles! This shape has a vertical line of symmetry down the middle. If we “fold” it in half, it would be a mirror image. Challenge your Children to visualize and then create this shape!
What can you hide inside of this Magna-Tiles Creation?!
The most basic form of a snow crystal is a hexagonal prism… we can make that shape with Magna-Tiles! It is at the center of our Magna-Tiles Snowflake below.
In real life, there are many types of snowflakes! It is not easy to classify snowflakes because there is no one precise way to define them. Below is a table with the more common and/or distinctive types. Visit here to learn all about snowflakes! They have beautiful shapes and patterns!
Magna-Tects made the shape of The Hulk! Very creative!
Colors are important and are part of what help us to recognize this superhero The Incredible Hulk! The fictional character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 in May 1962.
Originally, Lee chose the color grey for the Hulk however encountered problems in the coloring resulting in different shades of grey. After seeing the first published issue, Lee chose to change the skin color to green!
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