MemorialDayandalittleFlagart
MemorialDayismeanttohonorpeoplethathavediedwhileservingtheircountry.Thedayhascometobeassociatedwithcertainactivitiesaswell;paradesfilledwithpatrioticbannersandsongs,thestartofsummer,barbecuedinnerswithwatermelonandcornonthecob,andblowoutsales.
WethoughtthatstudentsmightenjoycreatingsomepatrioticartinhonorofMemorialDay.
Anewflaghasalwaysbeenissuedonfirst4thofJulyafteranewstatehasbeenadmittedintotheUnionoftheUnitedStatesofAmerica.Ourlastflagwascreatedwhenanewstarwasaddedin1960torepresentHawaiienteringtheunion.
ThereareprescribeddimensionsfortrueproductionsoftheAmericanflag.Theyareshownbelow.Noticethatthecross-wise,horizontaldimensionoftheAmericanflagiscalledits"fly"dimension.Theverticaldimensionoftheflagiscalledits"hoist".
Todaywearegoingtouseartisticlicensetocreateourownflagorpatrioticdesigns.(Artisticlicenseisatermusedtomeanthatwehavedistortedtheprescribeddimensionsordesignofourartwork.)
Flyofentireflag=1.9unit
Flyofunion=0.76unit
H
oistofentireflag=1units
Hoistofunion=
! !"units
Becausewearetryingtouseoursupplieseconomically,wearegoingtocutpiecesofconstructionpaperinhalfhorizontally.Constructionpaperisgenerallyeither81/2inchesby11inchesor9x12inches.
1. Firstmeasureyourpaperandnoteit'ssizehere.
2. Whatwillbethesizeofourhalvedpaper?
3. Ratiosareordinarilydenotedinwholenumbers.Howmightyouchangeyourfractionalanddecimaldimensionstowholenumbers?
4. Inwholenumbers,findtheratioofthelengthandwidthofyourhalfpieceofpaper?
5. Judgingfromthepreviousflagdiagram,whataretheactualflag'sproportions(flytohoist)?
6. Sowillourpaperflagsseemskinnierorfatterthantheactualflag?
Nowlet'slookatwhatiscalledthe"union"oftheactualflag...thebluepart.7. Whatarethedimensionsofthereal,prescribedunionoftheflag?
8. Expressthatratiousingwholenumbers.
9. Increatingourartworkandbeingcarefultonotwastepaper,ifweuse1/4of1/2ofourbluepieceofpaper,cutlikethepicturebelow,whatwillthedimensionsbeofourlittleunionsectionofbluepaper,fly:hoist?
10. Whatistheratioofthatlittlebluepapersection,flytohoist?
11. Compareyourtworatios.WillourpaperunionsectionbetooskinnyortoofatwhencomparedtotheactualAmericanflag'sunion?Pleaseshowyourworkandexplain.
Nowweneedsomestarsforourflag.
FrancisHopkinton(1737-1791)isoftengivencreditfordesigningthefirstAmericanFlagthatBetsyRoss(1752-1836)issaidtohavesewn.TheoriginaldesignthatGeorgeWashingtonbroughttoBetsyRossissaidtohaveincluded6-pointedstars.BetsyallegedlydemonstratedtoGeorgeWashingtonthatitwassimplertocreate5-pointedstars.Thedesignwasthenchanged.
Betsyhadacomplicatedfoldingmethodformakinga5-pointedstarwithonlyonecutofthefabric.Here'salinktothemethodifyouareinterestedinlearningthistechnique.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARP_IG22YsM
Tocreateourstarswewillsimplydrawthediagonalstoapentagon;cutofftheshaded,unnecessarypartsandusetheremainingstarforourpaperflag.
We'vesuppliedyouwithsheetsofvarioussizedregularpentagonstousewithyourclass.Gluesticksorrubbercementmakethecleanestconstructions.Cuttingstarstakesalittletoolong.Fiftystarswouldbeoutofthequestion.Welikedlettingcreateverynicestarsfrompentagonsbutstickerscouldalsobeused.Improviseandenjoy!Source:http://www.usflag.org/flagspecs.htmlhttp://www.ushistory.org/betsy/
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