How to Build a Geodesic Dome Model

Get Ready to Build a Geodesic Dome Model

Geodesic domes are made up of triangles like these

Image © Trevor Blake

Before we begin, it's helpful to understand some concepts behind the construction of the dome.

Types of Triangles
Geodesic domes are usually hemispheres (parts of spheres, like half a ball) made up of triangles. The triangles have 3 parts:

• the face - the part in the middle
• the edge - the line between corners
• the vertex - where the edges meet

There can be many different lengths in edges and angles of vertex in a triangle. All flat triangles have vertex that add up to 180 degrees. Triangles drawn on spheres or other shapes do not have vertex that add up to 180 degrees, but all the triangles in this model are flat.

One kind of triangle is an equilateral triangle, which has three edges of identical length and three vertex of identical angle. There are no equilateral triangles in a geodesic dome, although the differences in the edges and vertex are not always immediately visible.

_{Print these instructions}

• Get Ready to Build a Geodesic Dome Model
• Build a Geodesic Dome Model, Step 1: Make Triangles
• Build a Geodesic Dome Model, Step 2: Make 10 Hexagons
• Build a Geodesic Dome Model, Step 3: Make 5 Half-hexagons
• Build a Geodesic Dome Model, Step 4: Make 6 Pentagons
• Build a Geodesic Dome Model, Step 5: Connect Hexagons to a Pentagon
• Build a Geodesic Dome Model, Step 6: Connect Five Pentagons to Hexagons
• Build a Geodesic Dome Model, Step 7: Connect 6 More Hexagons
• Build a Geodesic Dome Model, Step 8: Connect the Half-hexagons
• About Geodesic Domes