Ringling Brothers Circus Trip

On May 21st, CJCP’s geometry honors class visited the Ringling Brothers Circus where the students experienced a variety of shapes, angles and colors and enjoyed the performances. Not only were they there to “ooh” and “ah” at the trapeze acts but also take note of the different geometric shapes they saw. Dr. Badalian took her students on a bright, warm morning to buy circus novelties, delicious snacks and watch as people were suspended in the air, had tigers do tricks and watched women bend to unimaginable proportions.

Upon arrival, students were asked to write essays about their trip to the circus and cite the different shapes they saw. One student, Jose DeJesus wrote in his essay, “One of the major performances included a sphere with a diameter of about 12ft. This act included not one but SEVEN motorcycles going full speed, going up down and around the sphere. Now, I was amazed that there wasn’t an accident. Especially with the sphere having an 288 cubic ft volume ( 4/3x6^3).”

Students enjoyed their time at the circus and also learned a lot in the process.