growth - Fractal Kitty

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growth

A collection of 15 posts

Blue Flames

This code was generated by playing around with one of the p5.js examples. It translates and rotates using parametric equations each frame. Codepen is below (it may not run well on some machines). See the Pen blueFlame by Sophia (@fractalkitty) on CodePen.

Parametric Waves Morphed into Unstable Charcoal

Parametric Waves Morphed into Unstable Charcoal

Have you ever wished that you had charcoal that is made of particles that randomly leave and come back? Wish the reference frame would rotate so down is up, but not always? Well now you have what you have always wanted – Unstable Charcoal! I created this after playing with a parametric wave visualiz

Laced Reflections

Laced Reflections

My mind was on snowflakes tonight, which brought me down a rabbit hole of reflections, lace, and play. The code here is simple but fun. Enjoy making snowflakes, lace, stars, or whatever comes to mind. If you wish to fork the code or play it is here. My CodePen is below. Press the spacebar (or […]

Code of the Rings

Code of the Rings

While tinkering with my tree ring code, I created a simpler yet mesmerizing adaptation. Essentially I added a loop, some random multipliers, and changed to radian mode. Sine and cosine are so incredibly beautiful and full of infinite play and wonder. Please play with the code below by clicking to ch

Goodbye Red Oak

Goodbye Red Oak

I often run for mental downtime and stress-relief. On a recent run, I found one of my favorite trees blown over. This tree grew in a cemetery with broad branches and roots consuming the neighboring headstones. This red oak had brought me so much joy. Before I could get to the stump, the park had […]

Mathober Complete!

Miscellaneous - interviews, ideas, and more

Mathober Complete!

I enjoyed doing Mathober this year and plan to post a new set of prompts for next year. I always feel like I grow as a person with these short, yet focused, activities. Please join in next fall. Thanks to those that joined in on twitter. Special thanks to John Golden who did every day […]

Mathober Doodles

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

Random Math Poetry

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.

Parametric Play!

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.

a moire sketch with lines all going to one point

Moiré Play!

Moiré is an interference pattern that can occur in physics, photography, art, math, and more. As a photographer and mathematician, I have always enjoyed seeing these artifacts emerge. Today I played with some Moiré animation for fun in p5.js. See the Pen Moire_Play by Sophia (@fractalkitty) on CodeP

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 sunflower spiral pattern made with stickynotes

Miscellaneous - interviews, ideas, and more

Sticky Note Sunflower

What you are seeing is a growth pattern of sticky notes that uses the Golden Angle (137.5 degrees) and then slowly decreases. This angle is commonly found in the plants all around us because it is an optimal angle for growth. It was a lot of fun playing with the growth angle while creating memorizin

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 […]

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Sophia

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

Mathematics

Education

Creative Coding