math - Fractal Kitty (Page 6)

Sign in Subscribe

math

A collection of 155 posts

radioactive halflive plots of how its effects might apply to a cats nine lives through the door titled nuclear medicine

Half-life effects on nine lives?

a comic showing the math of how bushtits explode with they hit critical mass on the feeder

Kitty Counts Birds – Critical Mass

a laser cut black circle with smaller turquoise circles laid on top to make a gasket

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 28: Apollonian Gaskets

Apollonian Gaskets are a creative way to play with circles, fractals, and mindfulness in math. Students can cut out circles and place them within circles or practice their drafting skills with a compass and ruler. The idea is to draw a large circle and then fit smaller and smaller circles inside as

a cat running with a watch while thinking about instantaneous speed and delta t

Kitty’s deep thoughts while running…

paper woven so that 4 yellow suns repeat with red, yellow and red

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 27: Patterns in the Paper Weaving

I love fiber arts and weaving. So, I have one more weaving post for this series, but this time it’s with paper. This activity is great for all ages and can be done with ribbon, bias tape or strips of paper. I like to use origami paper strips. The idea here is to play with […]

music with the pisano period harmonies of mod 12 and 24

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 26: Musical Math

You don’t have to be a musician to play with music and math. This week, I encourage learners to experiment with sound and patterns. Below is a list of ideas to experiment with: Create a rhythm as an individual or a class that follows a sequence and build on it, (drums can be hands on […]

kitty with yarn and knot diagrams

Good Gordian! – Knotty Kitty

a fox draw with a single curved line with 2 colors orange and white

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 25: Loopy Doodle Math

Doodling and math? Yes, we can play with doodles and see what patterns emerge. Finding patterns and problem-solving is a big part of math. For this week’s hands-on-math, learners are going to draw a loopy doodle where they start and end at the same point without lifting the pencil (or pen). Try to m

A cat at a whiteboard with a curve and the integrals of the curve showing the tension and impulse of a plot

Kitty Teaches Literature

an abstract pastel drawing with math elements of spirals a broken octahedron

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 24: Pastel Diagrams and Plots

Sometimes math diagrams, plots, and examples can be a little dry in our books and on the board. This week learners will be taking a diagram or plot that they want to improve upon and sketch it up with pastels, paints, or other media. Color, composition, and artistic embellishments can be added while

a kitty playing cards with the probability formula explaining that cards aren't counted - just remembered

Kitty Doesn’t Count Cards…

a laser cut loom with blue and white yarn

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 23: Fibonacci Weaving

If I am not playing with math, then I am tangled in yarn and thinking about math. This week I combined the two and wove A small fibonacci washcloth. Fiber arts are so versatile and an insanely fun way to express mathematics. In future weeks we will look at collage (wool applique), Cantor art, etc. [

a laser cut rotation tessellation made with black and red tiles

Have you Tessellated today? Rotational Play

I posted on translating tessellations yesterday, and ended up playing with a rotational tessellation on my ipad. I had to laser print it of course and see all the various patterns. I love math!

diamonds of 3 colors placed to make what appears to be a stack of cubes

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 21: Hexagon Tessellations

I love tessellating! This week we are playing with hexagons. Learners can either draw or cut various hexagonal designs with various colors. It is fun to see what secondary patterns can occur. Do other polygons tessellate? This is a wonderful activity to practice mindfulness and presence as you play

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, 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, […]

a kitty with a white board with algebraic terms getting combined, but instead of variables there are different germs

Fractal Kitty Teaches Biology…

a kitty with yarn illustrating the coastline paradox

Coastline Paradox Meets Kitty

three kids sitting in a radio room

Miscellaneous - interviews, ideas, and more

KMUZ Poetry on the Air With the Family

KMUZ’s Steven Slemenda interviewed our family in a two part series for a wonderful program called Poetry on the Air. Thanks to KMUZ and Steve Slemenda for sharing. This show is in the archives on their website, and with permission I am posting it here. My children were appreciative of the experience

a cat sleeping curled up next to a similar shaped donut

It’s not just Coffee Cups…

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

alternate exterior angles

Angle Review sheet

Mobius strip made with clay

52 Weeks of Math Activities

Week 13: Clay Möbius Strips

There are lots of amazing paper Möbius strips that are fun. You can cut down the middle, twist multiple times, make a Möbius paper chain, and try it with various materials. For a basic paper tutorial, I found a good one here. Rather than creating the classic paper strips, this week learners will be

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 an example using the power of […]

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 produce as many f

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 (try light colored s