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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