Fractal Kitty (Page 11)

Sign in Subscribe

a motion sheet with formulas and drawings

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 12: Galileo and Gravity

This week, we are going to take a look at applied math. Learners will be given a ramp (this can be a ruler), a ball that fits on the ramp, a measurement device (ruler), and a timer. With these instruments, learners can investigate the relationship between distance and time as

a soma cube made of 118 sheets of origami paper

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 11: Soma Cubes

I love Martin Gardner’s work and books that brought math to so many people in a fun and engaging way. One of the topics he covered was Soma Cubes. This week, learners can create and play with this wonderful seven-piece puzzle that was invented by Mr. Piet Hein

two kids running at the beach

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 10: Power of Two Tag

Tag is a great way to get moving, and it isn’t just for kids. I have had my highschool groups play with just as much zeal as the 5 year olds. For this week I encourage learners to create outdoor tag games that incorporate a mathematical concept. Here is

a dragon curve made with toys on the left and with lines on the right

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 9: Dragon Curve

The Dragon Curve is a fractal that is well explained in this numberphile video. This week learners can create a dragon curve with a strip of paper, Lux Blox, Python programing, Legos or toothpicks. Paper: For paper, I would suggest using a strip of thin paper. Thicker paper doesn’t

a flower pyramid night scene made with black dots

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 8: Density Through Pointillism

This week, we are going to look at density in a two-dimensional sense. The idea is to create two-dimensional images using various densities of points. The medium and approach can vary for the classroom. Some ideas are: * Sand art on a stick surface using different densities of sand

lego graph with quadrants labeled

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 7: Cartesian Coordinates

This week learners can get hands on with plotting. I encourage learners to investigate the history behind the Cartesian Coordinates (it’s interesting – I was just reading about it in Infinite Powers by Steven Strogatz). The idea is to plot with D&D figures, chalk, legos, or watercolors. Make

The Zeno Catnap

The Zeno Catnap

lux blox arranged in a line as a bar chart for the digits of pi

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 6: Randomness using pi

This week, learners will create a work of art using pi. The goal here is not to understand pi, but to play with randomness. We will dive into the ratio of circumference and diameter another week. Pi’s decimals go on forever and without a pattern. Here are some ideas

a cat drawn with red tangent lines and a derivative equation and then a kitty made of red bars and an integral equation

Differential vs. Integral Kitty

I have been reading Infinite Powers by Steven Strogatz as part of a twitter book club and decided to incorporate Fractal Kitty as I go through. This one is from the introduction. I really contemplated playing more with a comic for the Infinity Principle and still may.

$a bird and tree fractal make with photography composites$

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 5: Tell a Tale (or comic)

No matter what grade/age, stories are fun. This week, I encourage learners to read and write math stories. Take a concept and illustrate it through the art of story. Write comics, picture stories, murder mysteries, fantasies, plays, etc. Students can act out their story, create a stop animation, or

a kitty looking at two pies with the equation tau = 2pi

Kitty likes Tau day…

a sketch of an icosahedron with charcoal

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 4: Polyhedra Study

Leonardo da Vinci was a mathematician, inventor, and artist. His sketches in The Divine Proportion are a wonderful collection to study. Spatial awareness and being able to draw what we see are skills that can be mastered through practice. This week, I encourage learners to sketch polyhedra from cubes to

a sine diagram with formulas where the wave is a cat tale attached to a cat

A Sine of Kitty

an origami octahedron with geometric paper

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 3: Sonobe Octahedron

Octahedra are such fun shapes. This week we are going to learn an important fold in origami that can be used to make so many mathematical shapes, puzzles, and works of art. We are going to learn Sonobe. Below is a video of how to create the basic fold and

a kitty sleeping in a recursive tree branching with smaller kitties with binary in the sky.

Kitty in a Binary Tree

If you must translate, then here it is: 01010100 01101111 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110100 01101110 01100001 01110000 00100000 01101111 01110010 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110100 01101110 01100001 01110000 00111111 00100000 01010100

paper with spiral of Theodorus with two hands a pencil and a ruler

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 2: Spiral of Theodorus

This week the Spiral of Theodorus can be used to enhance understanding of the pythagorean theorem, right triangles, pi, and more. The spiral goes by many names (square root, Pythagorean, or Einstein Spiral) and approximates the Archimedean Spiral. Instructions: 1.) Create a right isosceles triangle where the sides that are

a kitty in a triangle tile that is repeated in the padovan sequence

Padovan Sequence Triangulated Kitty

a kitty walking on a mo

Möbius Kitty

embroidery with green string of curves formed with straight lines

Week 1: Embroider Curves with Lines

Welcome to 52 weeks of math! Week 1 is one of my favorites – drawing with thread. In this activity, learners will play with their rulers (or thread) to create curves with lines. The idea is to have students draw straight lines close together with various slopes to create curves. For

comic of cat thinking of cats arranged as a sierpinsky triangle

Sierpinskitty

Here is tonight’s doodle while planning this website. Sierpinskitty daydreams are something I can relate to.

Fractal Kitty begins!

I sometimes feel like a broken record. I repeat so much in conversation with parents, educators, and students when I consult with them on learning math that finally I sat down and brainstormed a website to share my ideas and best practices that I have used through the years. My plan is to share my [

Want to become a better programmer? Join the Recurse Center!

Sophia

Mathematics educator and creative coder exploring the beauty of mathematical concepts through interactive visualizations and playful learning.

Mathematics

Education

Creative Coding