geometry - Fractal Kitty

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geometry

A collection of 19 posts

a western tanager on oranges peeling them to make map projections in the background with drawing tools

Western Tanager

Another math bird in the series. I associate these tanagers with oranges, summer, and warmth. This year I enjoyed seeing them in our woods as I sat on a fallen white oak in the middle of a forest.

A blue heron at night with the moon large and behind. The heron is facing left and not extended and only shoulder up visible.

Heron’s Formula

Maybe we should start naming all math formulas and theorems after birds. This one wouldn’t have to change under this new renaming… I do love being able to find an area of a triangle given the lengths of its sides. Heron’s formula information: https://mathworld.wolfram.com/HeronsFormula.html [https:/

Hyperbolic Kittyoid

Hyperbolic Kittyoid

a student playing with zome tools to make bubbles with joy

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 48: Bubbles!

Pipe cleaners have so many uses and one of the best ways to use them is to make bubbles. This week I encourage learners to build mathematical structures with pipe cleaners, straws, string, or other waterproof toys to create beautiful structures. I used Zometools in some of my classes as

a dancing stick figure making a parabola

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 47: Math Dance

Get up and move! This week, learners can dance their favorite equations, math symbols, and concepts. Whatever topic is of interest or in the process of being learned is a great one to figure out the dance moves that go with it. I recommend taking 5 to 10 of your

laser cut half square triangles

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 46: Half-Square Triangles (Truchet Tiles)

If you are a quilter, then you will be a pro with this week’s activity. For the last six months, my quilting mother lived with us through chemo, and we watched her quilt her heart out. Now that she has moved back to her home, I had to laugh

a quincunx made of pins and marbles

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 45: The Quincunx

This week, learners can dive into probability through a quincunx (also known as a Bean Machine). Learners can make bean machines with building toys (Legos), pins and a corkboard, or nails and wood (or other methods they devise (3d-printing, sculpture, etc)). Here is a template to use. (It’s a

a cat in orbit around a star with a helmet on and spacesuit

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 44: Conics, Orbits, and Projectile Motion

You don’t have to be in high school math to play with conics, orbits, and projectile motion. This week (or month), learners can play with projectile motion, orbits, and conic sections with the activities below: 1.) Slicing cones * Learners can mold cones with clay and slice to see the

geometric circle art with blues black and gold

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 43: Circles and Art

Circles are so much fun! This week, I encourage learners to get out their compasses or a circle to trace and start making patterns on paper. Patterns with circles can start simple, but can also get really complex. You can combine your compass with a straight edge and get amazing

a cantor set kirigami folded and cut

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 37: Cantor Set Kirigami

For this week’s activity, learners can play with Cantor Set Kirigami. The Cantor Set is created by drawing a line. Next, remove the middle third of that line (this will create 2 lines). For each of the two lines just created, remove the middle third (this will create 4

a sunflower making a heart

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 36: Golden Angle Scavenger Hunt and Drawing Phi-Nominal Phi-lowers

The Golden ratio appears in nature all around us. Flowers and other botanicals often grow at an optimal (Golden) angle of about 137.5 degrees. For the 52-weeks of math activity, I encourage learners to seek out the Golden angle on a scavenger hunt. Take pictures or sketch in a nature journal the pin

a strange attractor drawn like silk with turquoise lines and dots

I’m Attracted to Attractors

So many plots and mathematical musings throughout my life have brought on a sense of artistic beauty and awe within my being. In the windowless halls of engineering firms I have smiled at harmonics, or in a homeschooling room squealed in glee when I stumbled upon Pisano periods by trying to play Fib

a hyperbolic yarn lovey with yellows greens and blues

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 35: Yarn-it-up Hyperbolic Space

This week let’s play with yarn! We are going to play with hyperbolic space. You will need some yarn and a crochet hook. You don’t need to know how to crochet, but you will need a little patience and a lot of desire to play. These don’t have to be perfect, and “mistakes” just add […]

a scattering of kirigami on a table of many colors

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 34: Kirigami

I love paper cutting, so last week I did kirigami with some of my classes. What was so fun about this activity is the amount of play and discovery that happened with two simple supplies (paper and scissors). Below are the videos I recorded for my classes to be able to go back and work […]

two hands copying a tessellation on paper

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 22: Tessellations – Paper Method

This week we will do tessellations that fit together through translation (moving without rotation). We will look at reflection and rotation in other weeks. There are a few different ways to do this, but we will use the paper method today. I always start the class by talking about what different kind

a wooden inlay of a nonagon with a star in the center with kites and triangles alternating colors of wood

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 20: Angles within a circle

This week, learners can play with angles with both grand projects and smaller art projects. There are 360 degrees in a circle or 2pi radians. Learners can draw a circle and then mark every 20 degrees (or every 30 or any factor of 360). Factors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

white charcoal on black paper hummingbird

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 16: Geometric Sketching – Hummingbird

I love to incorporate drawing skills into math education. This week I encourage learners to start seeing birds (or other animals/people) as shapes. Heads are circles, torsos are ellipses, beaks are triangles, wings are long ellipses… Sketching is a skill. A skill is something that you can master in

a review sheet with color coded angles with labels for transversals to parallel lines

alternate exterior angles

Angle Review sheet

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

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Sophia

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

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