Art and architecture can be used to teach high school students about real-life applications of geometry.

1. Art:
A Real-World Geometry Problem
Michael E. Flinchbaugh
Instructional Coach
J. H. Rose High School
Pitt County, North Carolina

2. Eiffel Tower
• Problem: This is the Eiffel
Tower in Paris, France. It is so
tall and skinny that a strong
wind should probably knock it
over. How did the designers
use geometry to make the
Eiffel Tower a stable
structure?
• What shapes?
• Why those shapes?

3. Parthenon
• Problem: This is the
Parthenon in
Athens, Greece. It looks
dilapidated in this
picture, but much of it
has been restored. It is
over 1600 years
old, after all. How did
the architects of this
masterpiece use
geometry to design such
a beautiful building?
• Investigate the
application of the
Golden Ratio/Golden
Mean

4. Escher’s Tessalations
• Problem: This is
Strong Men by M.C.
Escher. It is a
tessalation. How did
Escher get this
pattern to repeat
with no gaps or
overlaps?
• Investigate
tessalations.

5. Mona Lisa
• Problem: This is Mona
Lisa by Leonardo da
Vinci. How is
geometry related to
the proportions of the
face in the image?
• Investigate the Golden
ratio.
• Investigate how the
golden ratio is used in
da Vinci’s art and in
humans.