MemorialDayandalittleFlagart
MemorialDayismeanttohonorpeoplethathavediedwhileservingtheircountry.Theday
hascometobeassociatedwithcertainactivitiesaswell;paradesfilledwithpatriotic
bannersandsongs,thestartofsummer,barbecuedinnerswithwatermelonandcornonthe
cob,andblowoutsales.
WethoughtthatstudentsmightenjoycreatingsomepatrioticartinhonorofMemorialDay.
Anewflaghasalwaysbeenissuedonfirst4thofJulyafteranewstatehasbeenadmitted
intotheUnionoftheUnitedStatesofAmerica.Ourlastflagwascreatedwhenanewstar
wasaddedin1960torepresentHawaiienteringtheunion.
ThereareprescribeddimensionsfortrueproductionsoftheAmericanflag.Theyareshown
below.Noticethatthecross-wise,horizontaldimensionoftheAmericanflagiscalledits
"fly"dimension.Theverticaldimensionoftheflagiscalledits"hoist".
!
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Hoistofunion= units
Hoistofentireflag=1units
Todaywearegoingtouseartisticlicensetocreateourownflagorpatrioticdesigns.
(Artisticlicenseisatermusedtomeanthatwehavedistortedtheprescribeddimensionsor
designofourartwork.)
Flyofentireflag=1.9unit
Flyofunion= 0.76unit
Becausewearetryingtouseoursupplieseconomically,wearegoingtocutpiecesof
constructionpaperinhalfhorizontally.Constructionpaperisgenerallyeither81/2inches
by11inchesor9x12inches.
1. Firstmeasureyourpaperandnoteit'ssizehere.
2. Whatwillbethesizeofourhalvedpaper?
3. Ratiosareordinarilydenotedinwholenumbers.Howmightyou
changeyourfractionalanddecimaldimensionstowholenumbers?
4. Inwholenumbers,findtheratioofthelengthandwidthofyourhalfpieceofpaper?
5. Judgingfromthepreviousflagdiagram,whataretheactualflag'sproportions(flyto
hoist)?
6. Sowillourpaperflagsseemskinnierorfatterthantheactualflag?
Nowlet'slookatwhatiscalledthe"union"oftheactualflag...thebluepart.
7. Whatarethedimensionsofthereal,prescribedunionoftheflag?
8. Expressthatratiousingwholenumbers.
9. Increatingourartworkandbeingcarefultonotwastepaper,ifweuse1/4of1/2of
ourbluepieceofpaper,cutlikethepicturebelow,whatwillthedimensionsbeofour
littleunionsectionofbluepaper,fly:hoist?
10. Whatistheratioofthatlittlebluepapersection,flytohoist?
11. Compareyourtworatios.Willourpaperunionsectionbetooskinnyortoofatwhen
comparedtotheactualAmericanflag'sunion?Pleaseshowyourworkandexplain.
Nowweneedsome stars forourflag.
FrancisHopkinton(1737-1791)isoftengivencreditfordesigningthefirstAmericanFlag
thatBetsyRoss(1752-1836)issaidtohavesewn.TheoriginaldesignthatGeorge
WashingtonbroughttoBetsyRossissaidtohaveincluded6-pointedstars.Betsyallegedly
demonstratedtoGeorgeWashingtonthatitwassimplertocreate5-pointedstars.The
designwasthenchanged.
Betsyhadacomplicatedfoldingmethodformakinga5-pointedstarwithonlyonecutofthe
fabric.Here'salinktothemethodifyouareinterestedinlearningthistechnique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARP_IG22YsM
Tocreateourstarswewillsimplydrawthediagonalstoapentagon;cutofftheshaded,
unnecessarypartsandusetheremainingstarforourpaperflag.
We'vesuppliedyouwithsheetsofvarioussizedregularpentagonstousewithyourclass.
Gluesticksorrubbercementmakethecleanestconstructions.Cuttingstarstakesalittletoo
long.Fiftystarswouldbeoutofthequestion.Welikedlettingcreateverynicestarsfrom
pentagonsbutstickerscouldalsobeused.Improviseandenjoy!
Source:http://www.usflag.org/flagspecs.html
http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/ Brought to you by YummyMath.com