As  I told my classes today, I went to part of a math conference this weekend (this EPADEL MAA meeting, to be specific).

The closing talk was on the Mathematics of Origami by Amanda Serenevy of the Riverbend Community Math Center. Afterward, Amanda taught some of us to fold Hyperbolic Paraboloids with a square of paper. (They are of course approximations to a hyperbolic paraboloid and the paper actually bends in non-rigid ways, which is a bit devious.) Here’s a link to the MAA website where they have instructions on how to make them. And here’s an instructional youtube video, too:

I’ve actually made one before, but I thought I’d highlight it again, since I advertised it in class today and thought my students would appreciate the instructions.

I might report more from the math conference another time soon. I had a good time!