Challenge

Build Pyramids & Bipyramids

Photo of a 22ft tall Sierpinski tetrahedron composed of 384 softball bats and 130 balls in the Nevada desert as part of the Burning Man festival
Bat country, a 22ft tall Sierpinski tetrahedron composed of 384 softball bats and 130 balls. Gwen Fisher and Paul Brown's pyramid at the Burning Man Festival, Nevada. Photo by Gwen Fisher

Build shapes with polygonal bases and triangular sides converging at a point.

  • What is a pyramid? How can you calculate the surface area and volume of a pyramid?
  • What are bipyramids? How many regular bipyramids are there? How do they differ from pyramids?
  • How are bipyramids and prisms related?
  • What is a Sierpiński pyramid? What symmetries does it have? What is a fractal?
  • What ancient civilizations built large pyramid structures? What were they for? How are they similar and different?
  • How has the pyramid become a universal symbol in social, cultural, and scientific contexts?

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