Pop-up dodecahedron model: How to

I've made one of these from a cereal box and rubber bands, and it's delightful! Here is the model:





Here's how to do it:

Cut out two copies of the "pentagon flower shape" from a cereal box or other similar cardboard. Make each model about 10 cm across. Crease the join lines so that the five pentagons bend freely from the centre one.

Place the two models on top of one another as in the centre diagram. Lace an elastic band alternately over and under the "petals" as shown in the right-hand diagram, holding the model down flat.

Then let go and -- with any luck -- up pops a 3D dodecahedron! Do try this at home before you bring it to class. It is quite wonderful when the 3D figure suddenly appears, and making the model helps students remember the composition of this polyhedron.

Adapted from Ian Stewart (2009). Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities. NY: Basic Books, p. 7. (A highly recommended resource book for your classroom as well.)