4th- Radial Design

4th Grade: Radial Designs

4th graders did a bit of fun origami involving radial design. I did this project last year..and instructions can be found here: http://leaping2newheights.blogspot.com/search/label/paper%20sculpture

This year, we used 3" x 3" construction paper. Last year, we used 2" x 2" copy paper. Both have great results. Probably the copy paper is a little easier to fold, but the construction paper is convenient when you have a lot of this to use up at the end of the year! Students folded "darts" from pre-cut colored squares. This year, students folded the 12" x 12" black square to create 8 folds coming from the center. This helped in guiding their radial design. I like the creativity this project always sparks and the great problem solving. Some students discover new ways to fit the darts within each other. Also, a few students fold the squares into original designs (other than than darts). This is fine as long as they have some darts somewhere. A very geometric project. I love the color combinations used as well.