During our enrichment time, the class learned that bees are like tiny mathematicians! They learned why shapes with equal side lengths are stronger than shapes such as rectangles, with unequal side lengths. We talked about triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, and octagons, diving into their Greek and Latin roots. Bees make their hexagon honeycomb cells out of beeswax, and the students learned that the hexagon is the shape that stores the most honey for the least amount of beeswax in the walls!
We used Popsicle sticks of equal lengths and multi-link math cubes to illustrate the difference in beeswax to honey ratio of the triangle versus the hexagon.
Next, the students modeled a honeycomb structure on the floor. They loved this! It helped them to see just how well the hexagons fit together, and how new cells are able to be built without having to create very many more walls of wax! We integrated all of this hexagon talk into our art project. In art, the students used hexagon bolts to stamp out a honeycomb background. Next week, we will be adding bees to the foreground.
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