The Challenge: Create a penrose triangle.
Materials needed: Pencil, paper, etc.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, isometric grids, perspective, vertices/intersections
Category: 2D
#MathArtChallenge Day 64: Anamorphic Raintangle (from woollythoughts.com)
The challenge: Create a rainbow and get it reflected in a curved surface to reveal a rectangle. All credit here to Woolly Thoughts! (They have wonderful things for you to play with there.)
Materials needed: I crocheted mine, which was a fun puzzle to get an even rainbow. They have knitting instructions on their website, but you could just as easily draw this with markers. I used tinfoil as my reflective surface wrapped around a nail polish remover bottle. I bet you all get more creative than myself.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: circles, geometry, perspective, proportions/ratios
#MathArtChallenge Day 63: Super Tic-Tac-Toe
The challenge: This is another game (like sprouts). Great to play with a friend, can even be challenging for you to play against yourself! Lots of variety of how you decide who “wins”.
Materials needed: paper, pencil/pen
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: probability
Depending on how you use this activity, you may engage with different mathematical standards. I’ve listed possible connected math content above. Here are a few suggestions for how you might integrate the 8 mathematical practices. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments!
1.) Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. What strategy will most likely end with you winning? Do you want to start or go second?
8.) Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. If you play until all boards are filled, what is the expected number of 3 in a row?
#MathArtChallenge Day 61: Hilbert Curve
The challenge: Create a Hilbert curve.
Materials needed: Paper and pencil. Grid paper is helpful.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: exponents, fractals, geometry, sequences, symmetry, tessellations
#MathArtChallenge Day 60: Triangle Incenters ala Matt Henderson
The Challenge: Create your own version of Matt Henderson’s triangle incenters.
Materials needed: Paper? Pencil? Origami? Graphing software? (There are lots of options here.)
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, geometry, polygons, symmetry, vertices/intersections
#MathArtChallenge Day 59: Cellular Automata
The Challenge: Using rules from the “above row”, create a new row below.
Materials needed: grid (can be home made!) paper, pencil/pen.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: Probability, randomness, expected value
#MathArtChallenge 57: Islamic Geometry – Sheikh Zayed Masjid
The Challenge: I’m seeing the trees start blossoming around here (MN) so this felt like a good time for this one. I used Samira Mian‘s instructions. If you’re interested in Islamic Geometry, I cannot recommend her enough. Here is my creation, followed by her youtube video.
Materials required: Compass, straight edge, pencil.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: circles, geometric construction, Islamic geometry, symmetry, vertices/intersections
#MathArtChallenge Day 54: Permutations
The Challenge: Represent a pattern of permutations
Materials Needed: ??? There are so many options here. I used paint, but you could draw, use yarn, legos… anything.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: combinations & permutations, counting
#MathArtChallenge Day 52: Crossing Lines
The Challenge: Drawing only straight lines where all lines must cross all other lines, how many can you draw?
Materials Needed: Paper, pencil, maybe a ruler.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, calculus, lines, slope
#MathArtChallenge Day 51: KNOTS (Finally)
The Challenge: Can you find the 4, 5 and 6 crossing knots?
Materials needed: Patience, creativity, paper, pencil, maybe some strips of t shirts and a safety pin?
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: Combinatorics & permutations, counting, graph theory, knot theory, topology, vertices/intersections
arbitrarilyclose 