Lesson 1

Discover

 

Origami is a traditional Japanese art form that is created by folding paper into various shapes. An example of origami is shown in the diagram, which includes the steps required to create a boat.

 

In Try This 1 you will fold paper and look at the number of layers of paper that you have after each fold.

 

Try This 1

 

Use a piece of paper to determine the number of layers after each fold. Complete a chart like the following.

 

Number of Folds	Number of Layers Created	Number of Layers Created as a Power of 2
0	1	20
1	2	21
2	4	22
3	8	23
4
5

1. Fill in the rest of the chart. Sketch a graph of the number of layers created as a function of the number of folds. Describe the shape of the graph.
2. How could you determine the number of layers created for any number of folds?
3. How many layers would be created after eight folds?

Save your responses in your course folder.

 

Share 1

With a partner or group, discuss the following questions.

1. Mathematically, what would happen to the number of layers if you kept folding forever? In real life, would it be possible to continue physically folding the paper forever?
2. What type of relationship exists between the number of folds of paper and the number of layers of paper created?

If required, place a summary of your discussion in your course folder.