Magic Stars, Spirals, Circles, Spheres, etc.

A magic star is a variation of a magic square. The numbers are arranged in a star formation such that the sum of the numbers in each of the straight lines formed by the star's points and intersections yields a constant sum. We spent time discussing the mathematical name of a five pointed star. We call this a decahedron because it has 10 sides. These stars are also called pentagrams due to the inscribed pentagon formed by connecting the outer vertices and the inner vertices. 

 

I gave the children hexagrams, septagrams, octagrams, nonagrams, decagrams (also called icosagons). The objective here is for the children to find the magic number by adding a line (or curve in the case of the magic circles, spirals, etc.) of these numbers and checking at least two of these calculations. Enter the sum on the line that reads S=______

 

The attached pdf includes 34 different magic shapes. The objective here is to have them practice their addition and become familiar with the many beautiful geometric shapes used to create these problems.

 

 

AttachmentSize
Magic_Stars_Spirals_Circles.pdf293.4 KB