year 8 maths

NSW syllabus
STRAND: MEASUREMENT AND
GEOMETRY
SUBSTRANDS: ANGLE
RELATIONSHIPS
PROPERTIES OF
GEOMETRICAL
FIGURES
Outcomes
A student identifies and uses angle
relationships, including those related to
transversals on sets of parallel lines.
(MA4–18MG)
A student classifies, describes and
uses the properties of triangles and
quadrilaterals, and determines congruent
triangles to find unknown side lengths
and angles.
(MA4–17MG)
© NESA, 2012
The geometry of honey
Bees are incredible creatures. The cells in a beehive look like hexagonal prisms, but the
closed ends of the cell are not flat. They are made from three rhombuses. This allows two
opposing cells to fit together in such a way that the honey flows towards the centre of the
hive rather than dripping out.
The bees make the wax to build the honeycomb. This is done by worker bees. They consume
honey and their glands convert the sugar into wax, which oozes through their pores to
produce tiny flakes on their abdomen. The bee chews this wax to make it soft then use it to
make the hive.
There is still debate about how bees make such perfect-looking hexagons. It is now
generally accepted that bees make cylinders using the diameter of their body as a guide.
Every cylinder touches another six cylinders. When the gaps between the cylinders close,
the hexagonal pattern is revealed. There is still some debate about what makes the gaps
close. Some scientists believe the bees heat the wax to make it soft then push the inside
walls of the cylinder to flatten the sides.
Cambridge Maths NSW
Stage 4 Year 8 Second edition
ISBN 978-1-108-46627-1 © Palmer et al. 2018
Cambridge University Press
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