Science Smarts: STEM challenge
By Patty Rooks on August 5, 2023.
I have someone in my house who likes to play tricks and challenge me this summer! Of course, I accept! BUT my challenge has to do with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) of course! This week, I was doing some reading and I came up a rather intriguing one that involves math… Let’s get started! *Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment. Materials – Scissors – A few sheets of paper (regular size) – Ruler – Tape Procedure 1. Cut a strip of paper 25 cm long and 2 centimetres wide. 2. Make a circle out of the strip of paper. Tape the ends together to hold it in place. 3. Cut it in half. 4. What do you get? 5. Are you surprised? 6. Put this aside. 7. Cut another strip of paper out 25 cm long by 2 cm wide. 8. Make a half twist in the paper. Make sure you do not crease the paper. Pull the ends together. 9. Tape the ends together. 10. Cut the circle just as you did before. 11. What happened? 12. Why? What is going on? The circle with the half twist in it is called a one edged Moebius strip. The Moebius strip is named after Ferdinand Moebius, the mathematician that discovered it. It behaves in some surprising, but rather consistent ways. When you cut the two sided, two edged strip in half, you should have two pieces, with a total of four edges and four sides. When you cut in half the Moebius strip it is still in one piece, but how many edges and sides does it have? This is where it gets tricky. It should have one side and one edge. If you cut an ordinary strip of paper around the middle twice, you’ll end up with three separate pieces, with a total of six edges and six sides. Try cutting your Moebius strip around the middle twice. Surprised? See if you can guess how many sides and edges you have before checking it out. Good luck!! Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403-527-5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca. 25-24
