The girls and I have been enjoying studying the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio.  Yesterday, we made a golden ratio gauge using the instructions found here.  I had a little bit of trouble following parts of the instructions.  They required a slow, careful reading!

The trickiest part, though, was the actual assembly.  There aren’t any actual instructions included for assembling the gauge.  Looking at the picture provided a general idea, but there wasn’t any indication of exactly where the pieces should intersect.  At first, we attached the parts with everything squared off, but it didn’t work quite right.

Instead, I would suggest assembling the outer pieces, then actually using the parts to measure the proportions of one of the golden rectangles you drew as part of the process.  (The left side of the gauge should indicate the smaller portion, while the right side indicates the wider portion.)  When the three points of the gauge’s arms are pointed at the proper intersections of the golden rectangle, you should be able to see where the paper fasteners need to go.  Then you can use it freely to measure other things.

We haven’t had a chance to use ours yet, but we’re planning to take it outside today to see where we can find the Golden Ratio in nature.