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April 16, 2012

"Geometry Playground" Exhibit (Image 5)

These tessallating truncated octahedrons are part of the "Space-filling Blocks" activity at the San Francisco Exploratorium's "Geometry Playground" exhibit. Visitors are encouraged to stack the blocks so there is no wasted space. Filling up space completely with almost no gaps in between is called tessellation. The space-filling blocks activity let's visitors experiment to discover which shapes tessellate and which do not and the orientation of the stacking required.

Developed by the Exploratorium, "Geometry Playground" is a fully interactive exhibition that includes over 20 exhibits and specially commissioned artworks. With "Geometry Playground," visitors use their hands, their bodies and their minds to explore what for most has been only a textbook subject. The exhibition was funded by the National Science Foundation (grant DRL 06-10436) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Further information about the exhibit is available Here. (Date of Image: 2010) [Image 5 of 10 related images. See Image 6.]

Credit: Photo by Amy Snyder, ©2010 Exploratorium, Exploratorium.edu


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