This project was to geometrically reconstruct the Nepal flag using the skills we had learned so far about geometry, such as bisecting a line, conducting parallel lines and perpendicular lines, and bisecting angles. The paper/pencil group followed a set of instructions with 23 steps, that is included in Nepal's constitution. We used protractors and compasses to create the different aspects of the unique flag.
What was challenging? When you are first making all the markings for the flag, you have to read the directions carefully and be very precise with all the measurements. It wouldn't be surprising if you had to redo one part because you didn't make one line the right length. As far as the directions, the steps were normally explained in a somewhat difficult way, which made it challenging at times.
What math was used? We used protractors and compasses to make the lines in the right place. In previous weeks, we learned other aspects of geometry that allowed us to get comfortable with these tools. We applied our learning from these weeks, into re-creating this flag. Those weeks included learning about how to use compasses to create angles and then copy those angles. We also learned about bisecting a line using a compass to make arcs and connecting them through the line. The same thing goes for bisecting angles.
FOR CONSTRUCTION: The Border: When making the border, I made the base 6 inches, and made the height 8 inches. I made most of the lines by measuring with the compass then drawing arcs to get the exact measurements. I knew where they were supposed to connect from the paper of instructions, which had a lot of points, labeled by letters of the alphabet that became connected.
Moon: To construct the moon, I used the compass to get the crescent, started at different points for each line to meet and the end. Then I drew 8 equilateral in the top crescent, all angles being 60 degrees. The half circle is 180 degrees and each triangle is 22.5 degrees.
Sun: For the sun, I made two circles, having the same distance in between it all around. The base of the triangles were on the inside circle and the top was connected to the outside one. To make the triangles, I made perpendicular lines going right through the center of the sun, knowing how to place the triangles in order to fit all 12 triangles. All the equilateral triangles are 60 degree angles. Each triangle here is 30 degrees of the 360 circle.
Final Border: For the final border, I bisected all of the angles that makes up the edges. From there I made a point on each bisected line that was a distance of TN, which was a measurement somewhere else on the flag.
What did you learn? Creating this flag has taught me a lot about reading directions carefully, as well as labeling things. It is very important to label all the points that you make on the flag, so that you can easily know which points to connect or use as a starting point. This assignment was definitely a learn from mistakes. Even though there are instructions, it is still possible for mistakes to be made.
How did you feel about the work? The work was a good amount. Creating a presentable version of the flag was interesting because you had to scan and then color in photoshop which then helped me other tasks for physics.