Eisco Garage Physics Spiral of Theodorus Kit - Made in the USA

<b>The Eisco Garage Physics line is aimed at students interested in STEM concepts included physics and engineering. Each kit engages learners to discover new ideas about the physical world through assembly and play.</b><br>Theodorus was a contemporary of Plato and may have been the first to prove the irrationality of the square roots from 3 to 17 (which are not perfect squares, like 4, 9, and 16). The spiral which is attributed to Theodorus is thought to have been used in his proofs. The Spiral of Theodorus allows students to explore the square roots tangibly and kinesthetically. It provides a setting for students to gain exposure to irrational numbers and indirectly defined quantities. It also has a number of fascinating properties allowing older students to make connections to the Pythagorean theorem, and an approximation of pi.<br>The Spiral of Theodorus Block Kit allows students of almost any age to experiment with square roots and irrational numbers in physical form. This kit, though simple in design, provides a setting for age-appropriate discussions of the structure and behavior of a whole new type of number. Young children can use the kit to explore right triangles and ramps. Elementary school children can use the triangles to make their first foray into indirectly defined quantities. They can work to make Theodorus’ spiral and other related shapes, and depending on their age level, elementary school children can explore the Pythagorean theorem and square roots. Middle school students can use the triangles to test equivalencies with square roots, and explore abstract concepts like a sequence of geometric shapes based on the Fibonacci numbers. High school students can use the kit to explore a proof of irrationality for non-square integer roots, a method for approximating square roots.<br>Kit includes 16 triangle shaped blocks of increasing heights, adhesive labels for labeling blocks, ball point pen, cardboard storage box & instructions.