L.O: to investigate how to create different spirals

In Maths, we have been learning about Archimedean spirals where the loops of the spirals remain the same distance apart throughout the spiral.

We had opportunity to draw our own spirals using straight lines and concentric circles. We investigated drawing spirals on concentric circles that had been divided into 6 sectors and 8 sectors.

Ben focused on his 6 sector spirals as he thought he’d spotted a pattern and wanted to test it out. Here are the series spirals Ben created:

Ben varied where he placed the points on the radii of the concentric circles. For spiral 1, he placed the first one on the outside circle and then moved each point in one as he went around it. For spiral 2, he placed the first point on the outside again and then moved each point in 2 as he went around the circle.

Ben thought he had spotted a pattern and so tested his prediction by completing a further 2 spirals. He found that the number of turns needed to make a spiral depended on how far in you were moving the dots each time. Moving them in 1 each time meant 12 lines were needed to make the spiral. Moving them in 2 each time meant 6 lines were needed, moving them in 3 meant 4 lines were needed and moving them in 4 each time meant 3 lines were needed.

Well done Ben - some excellent investigation skills demonstrated!
Mrs Alston