Supplies:

Sheet of Paper Scissors Pen or Pencil

 

Where inside and outside are one and the same Think you've seen it all. Just when you thought you understand the simple little concepts like up and down, forwards and backwards, and inside and outside, Reeko comes along and throws a curve ball at ya'. Cut a 2 inch strip of paper. Holding the strip out straight, give it a half twist (180 degrees) and attach the two ends together. Take a pen and draw a line along the center of the strip. Surprised? Where do you end up? Is the line drawn on the inside or outside of the paper? Now cut the strip along the line you drew. How many chains do you get? Your chain is called a Mobius strip, which is a shape described by a science called topology. When you twisted your strip, the inside and outside became one continuous surface. And when you cut the strip, it became one longer chain but still had only one continuous surface. Now, try the experiment again but this time give the paper a full twist. You'll be surprised by the results. Parent's Note. During the early 1800's, the works of German mathematician August Ferdinand Mobius helped develop a study in geometry that became known as topology. Topology explores the properties of a geometrical figure that do not change when the figure is bent or stretched. sides. The Mobius strip is named after August F. Mobius, the German mathematician who discovered it.