fractalkitty

Lover of math, art, literature, and life.

coding

Laser Pointer Googly Eyes

I am glad I can amuse myself. This is a simple script that I may integrate into an Algebra class for looking at points on a line. If you want a webpage version for students, click here. If you want code, see below. Click to make more eyes, and you might get freaked out if […]

coding

Fractal Ink to Code

After drawing the fractal prompt today for Mathober, I played around to make it in p5js. Below is the Codepen to play with. I almost feel like it should have a surprise when they align…maybe for another day. See the Pen fractal_Mathober by Sophia (@fractalkitty) on CodePen.

coding

Lune of Hippocrates Clock

After drawing the Lune of Hippocrates yesterday for Mathober, I played around to make a Lune clock today. Below is codepen (p5 is here). I use a lot of these small projects for students to play with in an hour of code group. This one may not be as popular as projecting memes and cats […]

coding

Fantasy Maps to Planets

For those that have created fantasy maps using previous posts here, in classes, or elsewhere in Worldbuilding, D&D, or art, I created a small script to see your maps as spherical planets. You can click to rotate and move the mouse off the canvas to have rotation. You may want to draw a map that […]

Miscellaneous - interviews, ideas, and more

Mathober Doodles

This year, I hope to do mathy sketches as inspired by John Golden’s tweet. Initially this post was working off of prompts from another website, and after learning of some controversy, I have decided to rename and recenter this post and month to Mathober. A learner brought up the issues with a tradem

coding

Random Math Poetry

I think the challenge here is to find the math that can fit the poetry… If you want a browser tab version, click here. You can also edit it and change the words as well. Below is the codepen: See the Pen OJNKQmE by Sophia (@fractalkitty) on CodePen.

Math Birds

The Magpi

GIF

From the Void

Hexagon and parametric spiral play. I find myself doodling with code lately more than with my pen. I have one more scripting algebra post, but feel like I have a much larger library for a pre-calc set of activities. Thoughts? The GIF is too large for this site or twitter, so I stashed it on […]

Scripting Algebra

SA9: Quadrant Play

This Scripting Algebra (SA) activity looks at quadrants, mouse location, and interactive art p5.js. This activity assumes that the skills from SA1-SA8 were introduced (if-else, logical operators, random(), text(), rect(), variables, loop, pow, for, functions, translate, modulo, etc.). This activity

coding

Parametric Play!

Here are some simple animations with parametric equations. What you see below is a function and its inverse. If you click, you will get another semi-random equation. See the Pen qBZgZvW by Sophia (@fractalkitty) on CodePen.

GIF

Expanded

With commas: Without commas:

GIF

Foiled by a Foil

I couldn’t resist this GIF for my algebra students. Foiling can be such fun!

GIF

Moiré GIF: by Opal

My daughter started playing with moiré in procreate after I fiddled with it in a previous post. You know we breathe math in our home. She wanted to share:

coding

Parallel to a Parabola

I received a question today about what curve is parallel to a parabola. I sat for a minute and realized that it wasn’t another parabola. It required parametric equations (at least if you wanted to keep it simple). That of course lead to code: See the Pen jOqzMJb by Sophia (@fractalkitty) on CodePen.

GIF

Menger Sponge Cat in Space

High res: Low res:

GIF

Hex-a-Sierpinski

So I doodled and was pleasantly surprised when Sierpinski-like triangles formed. I am sure that a million people have discovered this before me, but I felt like I found a magic portal. And that lead to coding (of which is currently a mess, and I will post later). And one more version:

Comics

No 5-second rule…

Scripting Algebra

SA8: Odd and Even

This Scripting Algebra (SA) activity uses even and odd polynomials to create generative art in p5.js. This activity assumes that the skills from SA1-SA7 were introduced (if-else, logical operators, random(), text(), rect(), variables, loop, pow, for, functions, translate etc.). This activity will in

Miscellaneous - interviews, ideas, and more

Yay! This blog is in a blog post on the AMS Blog of Math Blogs!

Seriously though, I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to share all the hard work that has gone into creating the materials on this website. I hope to continue growing, learning, and sharing with you all.

GIF

Coffee = Donut

I know it is an obvious one, but it’s what I doodled tonight…

Scripting Algebra

SA7: Directrix and Focus

This Scripting Algebra (SA) activity uses parabolas again to make generative art in p5.js. In SA6, we used the f(x) = ax2+bx+c form for parabolas. In SA7, we are going to take a look at the directrix and focus by using the form: (x-h)2 = 4p(y-k). This is one of my favorite ways to look […]

Makings

Hex-a-Huddle Board Game

This week Quanta Magazine published an article on penguins and their hexagonal behavior. I shared this article with my 14yr old daughter, Opal, and we started discussing how this would make a great board game. We designed pieces, drafted our prototypes in Affinity Design, and then utilized a Glowforge to

Scripting Algebra

SA6: Parabola Art

This Scripting Algebra (SA) activity uses parabolas to make generative art in p5.js. Learners will investigate existing code to analyze changes in parabolas, and other features of the output. This activity assumes that the skills from SA1-SA5 were introduced (if-else, logical operators, random(), te

Scripting Algebra

SA5: Systems of Equations

This Scripting Algebra (SA) activity will play with systems of linear equations in p5.js. In this activity, a system of two random lines will be generated and the intersection (or solution) of those lines will be calculated to make generative art. It is recommended to introduce creating functions if

Scripting Algebra

SA4: Perpendicular Play

This Scripting Algebra (SA) activity will introduce students to perpendicular slopes and points for lines in p5.js. Once students get comfortable with linear functions, it is fun to look at their perpendicular counterparts. Introduce the concept that a perpendicular line has a slope that is a negati