#MathArtChallenge 99: Quilts & the Underground Railroad

IMG_2102
A quilt containing 6 of the blocks mentioned below as having possibly been used as a code in the underground railroad.

The Challenge: Learn a bit about the code discussed below, and then have yourself or students create some or all of the quilt blocks discussed.

Materials needed: Certainly you can make these as actual quilt pieces. You can also just use a square piece of paper and work on construction within that using paper and pencil.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, arithmetic, geometry, philosophy on math, polygons, symmetry, tessellations.

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge 99: Quilts & the Underground Railroad”

#MathArtChallenge 94: Twelvefold Islamic Geometric Rosette from Samira Mian

12fold rosette full

The Challenge: Make yourself a 12-fold Islamic Geometric Rosette.

Materials needed: Compass, straight edge, paper, pencil, colors
Math Concept: angles, circles, geometric construction, geometry, Islamic geometry, lines, polygons, symmetry, tessellations, vertices/intersections.

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge 94: Twelvefold Islamic Geometric Rosette from Samira Mian”

#MathArtChallenge 89: Voronoi diagrams

Voronoi Diagram Sketched in Notebook

The Challenge: Throw some random points (or carefully selected ones!) on a plane. Identify the parts of the plane that are closest to each of those points.

Materials Needed: Paper, ruler, writing utensil.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: algebra, arithmetic, geometry, lines, proportions/ratios, slope, tessellations, vertices/intersections.

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge 89: Voronoi diagrams”

#MathArtChallenge 86: Tla’amin Basket Weaving: Coding and Indigenous teaching

The Challenge: Play with the widget here to explore your own Tla’amin basket weaving patterns.

Materials Needed: The applet linked above.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: geometry, sequences, symmetry, tessellations

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge 86: Tla’amin Basket Weaving: Coding and Indigenous teaching”

#MathArtChallenge 84: Tangrams

The Challenge: Get yourself a square of paper (or something else?) and cut yourself a set of tangrams. Then create away!

Materials Needed: Scissors, paper
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, geometry, lines, polygons, proportions/ratios, symmetry, tessellations

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge 84: Tangrams”

#MathArtChallenge 78: Ferozkoh Jaali & perspectives

The Challenge: Create this design, and then once you have the basic underlying grid, play around with the possible interpretations of how to color and “finalize” it.

Materials Needed: compass, straight edge, colors; could use graphing software.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, circles, geometric construction, geometry, Islamic geometry, lines, symmetry, tessellations

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge 78: Ferozkoh Jaali & perspectives”

#MathArtChallenge Day 61: Hilbert Curve

A 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

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge Day 61: Hilbert Curve”

#MathArtChallenge Day 25: Tessellations

The Challenge: Great your very own tessellation from a small piece of cardboard.

  1. Start with a square (Cereal or pop box cardboard works great) Mine was 2”x2”
  2. Cut a piece from one side and tape it to an adjacent side.
  3. Repeat for remaining 2 edges.
  4. Trace!

Materials Needed: Pencil, paper, and cardboard from a cereal box or a pop box or something similarly thin but stiff enough to trace.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, geometry, polygons, tessellations, vertices/intersections

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge Day 25: Tessellations”

#MathArtChallenge Day 21: Agra Fort Islamic Design

Day21 MAC still
A green lattice design with clearly visible pencil marks from a compass behind them.

The Challenge : Create this design from the Agra Fort.

Materials Needed: If you have a compass, use this tutorial from Samira Mian. If you do not have a compass, you can use my instructions for making this from a regular grid below that.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, geometric construction, lines, polygons, symmetry, tesselations, vertices/intersections

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge Day 21: Agra Fort Islamic Design”

#MathArtChallenge Day 11: 8-Pointed Star

Day11 MAC eight point star
Construction (compass and straight edge) of a tessellation of 8 pointed stars.

Note: This is a first foray for the #mathartchallenge into Islamic Geometry. I would be a fool to not take this opportunity to teach you about Samira Mian. Her online courses are fantastic, and her tutorials are great. So are is her instagram!

The Challenge: Construct an 8-pointed star, and possibly tile it?

Materials needed: Straight edge, writing utensils, paper, compass? (There are tutorials for both compass and no compasses below.)
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, circles, geometric construction, Islamic geometry, symmetry, tessellations, vertices/intersections

Continue reading “#MathArtChallenge Day 11: 8-Pointed Star”