Geodesic Dome... Conquered!

HOORAY!

First of all, color coding is key.

For our dome project (see my previous post on Buckminster Fuller and Geodesic Domes), we used

25 yellow + 5 orange straws (cut to 17.5 inches in length)

35 pink straws

The 5 orange straws are the star at the top of the dome. This helps keep everyone on your team oriented spatially as you assemble the structure.

We also used

40 green paperclips
(to make ten 4-way connectors)

30 yellow paperclips
(to make six 5-way connectors)

60 white paperclips
(to make ten 6-way connectors)

These jumbo 20 inch long straws are awesome, and having all the different colors really helps!!!

STEPS IN ASSEMBLY

1. Lay out straws by color. Cut the yellow and orange straws to 17.5 inches.

2. Lay out paper clips by color. Make 4-way, 5-way, and 6-way connectors.

Use the yellow paper clips to make the 5-way connectors
(these are for the centers of the orange and yellow stars)

Use the green paper clips to make the 4-way connectors
(these are for the base; they go into the "feet" of the yellow stars)

Use half of the white paper clips to make five 6-way connectors
(these are for the top points of the yellow stars)

Use the remaining white paper clips to make ten 3-way connectors
(these are for the "hands" of the yellow stars and will join together to become 6-way connectors upon assembly of the dome)

3. Make the orange star (which is the top of the dome). Set it aside.

4. Make a yellow five point star.

5. Add the following connectors to the open ends of your yellow star

4-way connectors at the feet of the star (left and right)

3-way connectors (1/2 of six) at the arms of the star (left and right)

6-way connector on the top point of star
note: this connector will go into the orange star "cap" at the end

5. Insert the pink straws into the connectors all the way around your star to form a pentagon panel. These panels are the sides of your dome.

6. Make 4 more yellow stars / pentagons in this way. You will have five in all.

6. Assemble your pentagon panels into a circle, with the left and right arms touching. The white 3-way connectors there will need to be linked together to form a 6-way connector. At the base and at the top of the space between the panels you will place a pink straw. It will look like an hourglass shape.

On the floor, all the way around the base of the dome, you will see green connectors and pink straws.

The first row of triangles above the base will alternate between having yellow sides and having pink sides.

There will be five pentagon panels that make up the circular walls of the dome. One pentagon panel will be the cap on top.

yellow stars, highlighted

the orange star proudly takes its place at the top of the dome

In my experience, it takes A LOT of people to help hold each panel in place while the pink straws are being put in between them.

The design will be very floppy and it can be quite frustrating... until the cap is placed on top, at which point it will snap into place and become rigid and very strong. Buckminster Fuller came up with an amazing building!

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