Hexagon

I have six straight sides and six pointy corners. I am a very friendly shape. I love to fit together perfectly with my friends, making a strong pattern with no gaps at all. You can find me in nature, where busy bees use me to build their cozy homes for honey. I'm also the delicate, one-of-a-kind shape of a single snowflake falling from the winter sky. Have you guessed who I am yet. I am the Hexagon. It's so nice to meet you. I have been around for a very long time, hiding in plain sight and helping out in some of the most amazing ways.

For thousands and thousands of years, people saw me but they didn't know all of my secrets. They saw me in the beautiful honeycombs that bees made, but they just thought I was pretty. Then, around the year 300 CE, a very smart man who lived in a place called ancient Greece saw what the bees were doing. His name was Pappus of Alexandria. He watched the bees very carefully and did a lot of thinking. He realized that I was the very best shape for holding the most honey while using the least amount of wax. Pappus thought the bees were brilliant little builders for figuring this out. After that, people started using me in their own creations, like the beautiful tiled floors in ancient Rome. Much, much later, in the year 1611, a scientist named René Descartes looked closely at snow through a special glass and wrote all about my perfect six-sided shape in every single snowflake.

Today, you can find me helping out all over the place. I am the shape of the little metal nuts that hold your scooter together and the big bolts that keep giant bridges strong and safe. My shape is strong because it fits together so well. I even team up with my pentagon friends, who have five sides, to make the pattern on a soccer ball. I am also out in space. A giant, spinning storm on the planet Saturn has been in my shape for hundreds of years. From the tiniest bee’s home to a giant planet, I am a shape that means strength and cleverness. The next time you see a honeycomb or a snowflake, you will know my name. Look around—where else can you spot my six sides today.