Events of October 2006

LaSalle Academy Fractal Workshop for Teachers

Oct 3, 2006

In this two-hour workshop, we will use the freeware program Fractint to explore intricate and colorful designs created by repeating a simple rule over and over again. This activity can reinforce and motivate several important math concepts depending on the grade level of the students. Some of these concepts are: number sense relating to decimals and place value; computing with decimals and/or negative numbers; pre-algebra and algebra skills relating to variables, functions, and graphing. Students usually find fractals fascinating and there are many ways they can continue to explore them independently.

Rum Village Fall Festival: Mathematical Origami

Oct 7, 2006

Fold magic pinwheels and construct origami polyhedra using Sonobe units.

Family Math Activity -- Animal Gaits

Oct 14, 2006 – Oct 15, 2006

Join us as we trot, hop, gallop, and pace our way to an understanding of how animals move. Use patterns and symmetry to analyze a variety of primary and secondary animal gaits.

Family Math Activity -- Cryptology

Oct 21, 2006 – Oct 22, 2006

Make a cipher wheel to create and decode secret messages. Use the power of statistics to crack encrypted messages even when you do not know what cipher wheel setting was used.

South Bend Boys and Girls Club Math Studio -- Polyhedra

Oct 24, 2006 – Dec 21, 2006

Math Studio meets twice a week for three hours each session. Stop by as often as you like to explore the geometry of polygons and polyhedra. Learn to construct polyhedra by folding paper and by snapping plastic Polydrons together. Lay the foundations by learning to measure angles and by determining how many degrees are in any triangle. Discover efficient methods for counting the number of vertices, edges, and faces in each polyhedron. Build families of shapes that have similar properties and discover formulas for the face vectors of each family. Discover the Platonic solids and prove that there are only five.