sine

07
Nov
chickadee with a slope field and the derivate dy/dx = 2co(x/3) with the rollercoaster flight sketched

Chestnut-backed Chicka-dy/dx

Another Math bird in the series! These little chickadees make the cutest noise. They have had a brood every year in the neighbors gum tree. When I see their rollercoaster flight, I think of slope fields.
1 min read
16
Sep
pair of sand pipers on parallelepipeds with an ocean in the background and the matrix fro the volume.

Western Sand Parallelepiper

Another Math bird in the series! This one was inspired by my 17yr old discussing her math homework of deriving the volume for a parallelepiped. So of course It spawned the thought of parallelepiped sand castles.
1 min read
10
Sep
Spiraling Vaux’s Swifts

Spiraling Vaux’s Swifts

Just like solar eclipses, Vaux’s swifts really are a life experience. Watching them funnel into a chimney in a vortex of flitting feathers is just amazing. I had the wonderful experience of watching them funnel into the chimney at dusk in Salem, Oregon (my home). So here is the next math bird in the
1 min read
06
Sep
a birdhouse with violet green swallow head packed like a gasket and the math written on the house with parents flying

Packing Violet Green Swallows

I enjoyed watching the swallows this summer. I couldn’t help but imagine that they were packing circles in their little birdhouse portal. Life is full of such precious moments.
1 min read
22
Aug
A pileated woodpecker with morse code and the branches of letters with the waves shown in a forest

Pileated Woodpecker

Another math bird in the series. I am pretty convinced that pileated woodpeckers communicate in their own form of morse code. I wonder what their frequency is when they are excavating?
29
Dec
Blue Flames

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.
1 min read
16
Dec
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
1 min read
13
Dec
Coffee Darkness vs. Daylight

Coffee Darkness vs. Daylight

Because it’s true…
24
Nov
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
1 min read
22
Nov
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 […]
1 min read

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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