Hyperbolic Soccerballs

by  Frank Sottile

in My Favorite Adapted Math Circle Topic


Abstract 

The activity Hyperbolic Soccerballs was originally developed while teaching  
non-Euclidean geometry to future secondary teachers, providing a tactile  
activity to experience features of the hyperbolic plane. Students build a  
charismatic model of the hyperbolic plane, and then investigate lines,  
parallel lines, and triangles on it. This turned out to also be a popular  
activity for a math circle, and I have used it successfully over two dozen  
times with audiences from middle school to college, including several  
different courses.