Content Showcase: Video Library

Stonehenge is best known as a circular structure. But it’s the post and lintel construction used that is noteworthy, and this type of construction involves quadrilateral shapes.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural masterpiece Falling Water is also a stunning assembly of quadrilateral shapes.

The Puerta de Europa towers in Madrid bring parallelograms front and center. These tilted towers, looking like modern-day towers of Pisa seem to defy gravity, but rely on the stability brought about by its quadrilateral structure.

In this program we look at applications of transformations. We do this in the context of three real-world applications. In the first, we look at translations and rotations in the context of roller coaster rides.

Roller coasters provide an ideal opportunity to explore translations and rotations. Displacement vectors are also introduced.

Cargo ships transport tons of merchandise from one country to another and accounts for most of the global economy. Loading and unloading these ships requires a great deal of organization and provides an ideal example of three-dimensional translations.

The Gemini telescope in Hawaii is an example of architecture that moves. All observatories rotate in order to follow objects in the sky. This also provides an opportunity to explore rotations, reflections, and symmetry.

In this program we explore the properties of triangles. We do this in the context of two real-world applications. In the first, we explore the triangular trusses in the Eiffel Tower and in the process learn about key properties of triangles.

The Bank of China building in Hong Kong is a dramatic example of triangular support. The notion of triangular trusses is introduced, along with the key concepts developed in the rest of the program.

The Eiffel Tower includes quite a number of exposed triangular trusses. The properties of triangles are used to explore and explain the frequent use of triangular trusses in many building. In particular, isosceles and equilateral triangular trusses are explored.

The ancient port city of Corinth in Greece allows us to explore the evolution of sailing. The shapes of sails went from rectangular to triangular. The use of right-triangle-shaped sails changed the nature of sailing.