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IN this activity, students will use mathematics and critical-thinking skills to emulate processes used by the ancient Egyptians to prepare the site for the Pyramids of Giza. To accomplish this, they will use three different methods.
First, they will create a square using only simple technological tools that were available to the ancient Egyptians. Second, they will create a square using modern drawing instruments: a protractor, compass, and pencil. Finally, students will use The Geometer's Sketchpad mathematical software to create a square. They will then compare these three methods and write a one-page word-processed paper discussing the similarities and differences among these methods.
History of the Giza Pyramids
Constructed between 2551 and 2472 B.C., the three Pyramids of Giza were built for the three kings, or pharaohs, of the 4th dynasty of ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. Construction of a pyramid would start when a king assumed the throne and would end when he died. The largest pyramid was built for King Khufu, and the other two for King Khafre and King Menkaure (Morell, 2001, p. 81).
Before a foundation for a pyramid was put in place, workers measured a perfect square to use for laying out the groundwork for the foundation's massive stones. There is much speculation as to how the Egyptians created a near perfect square base; however, they most likely were familiar with the Pythagorean theorem.
The largest of the pyramids is believed to have a volume that exceeds 2,600,000 m3. It is estimated that the pyramids contain 2,300,000 blocks of stone, each of which weighs approximately 2.5 tons.
There has been a great debate about how the pyramids were constructed. "The principal theory is that a massive ramp was built against one full face of the pyramid, and was lengthened as construction proceeded" (Edwards, 2003, p. 341). A ramp of this size would have been 1.5 kilometers in length. Due to the effects of friction, the movement of the stone...