How to Make Shapes With Rubber Bands

Teaching shapes with rubber bands makes learning mathematics and geometry fun

Making shapes with rubber bands is easy, in the classroom or at home, with a simple device called a geoboard. Geoboards come in a variety of sizes, from three pegs by three pegs to the standard five pegs by five pegs or six pegs by six pegs or even custom designed sizes to make more intricate designs. Teachers can plan their geoboard lessons with the assistance of a virtual geoboard and print out the shapes made. Then students can replicate the shapes on their geoboards using rubber bands.

Things You'll Need

• Rubber bands
• Geoboards
• Worksheets

Instructions

1. 

   Use rubber bands to teach about shapes

   Stretch a rubber band across three or four pegs in the same row to create a line. All shapes will start with a line. Allow students to practice with their geoboards and rubber bands.

2. 

   Make a triangle with rubber bands

   Create a triangle by first creating a line, then pulling one side of the rubber band over the first peg. The resulting shape will be a right triangle.

3. 

   Make a square with rubber bands

   Make a simple small square--a shape with four equal sides--by stretching a rubber band across only two pegs. Now pull one side of the rubber band down to loop over the peg directly under the first. You have a triangle again, now repeat this loop on the other side. You have a perfect small square--with four equal sides--composed of one rubber band stretched over four pegs.

4. 

   Make rectangles with rubber bands

   Form a long rectangle by carefully stretching a rubber band over five pegs in a row, creating a long line. Now pull the left side of the rubber band down by one peg. This results in a long skinny triangle. Now pull the other side down one peg. You have created a long rectangle using ten pegs (two rows of five pegs).

5. 

   Make octagons with rubber bands

   Make an octagon by stretching a rubber band across two pegs in a line. Now stretch both sides of the rubber band down--simultaneously--over four pegs. This creates a tall skinny rectangle. Pull the right side of the rectangle out to loop it over the next two pegs. Pull the left side out, looping it over two pegs. You will have an eight-sided octagon.

6. 

   Make lots of shapes with rubber bands

   Experiment with the rubber bands to create other polygons, which are shapes with many sides.

Tips & Warnings

• Teach children and students the proper names of shapes as they create shapes with rubber bands on the geoboards. Explain about acute, right, and obtuse triangles and angles. Prefixes can be taught (tri-, quad-, poly-, oct-) as well as perimeter and area.

• Create worksheets with questions and drawn blank geoboards. Children and students can illustrate the different shapes they make using pencil or crayon (colors show better on black and white worksheets) so they can have a tangible record of the activity after they put away their rubber bands and geoboards.

• Don't allow children or students to aim the rubber bands at each other or hit each other with the rubber bands. It is possible to damage the eye and vision if hit by a rubber band.

References

• Math Playground: Geometry Board
• Scholastic: How I Introduced the Geoboard in My Classroom
• NCTM - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: Investigating the Concept of Triangle and the Properties of Polygons: Making Triangles

Resources

• Utah Education Network: Ship Shape
• Alison M. Green, PA Mathematics Institute: Lesson Plan: The Greedy Triangle and Geoboards
• I-MATH Projects: Wendy's Lessons: Geometry for Kindergarten