Math lovers and creative people please help - Page 2

[1littlebit]

some codes are pretty strait forward... and poetry is really just counting i understand where you are coming from not being good at math though. i failed algebra 2 and passed algebra 1 by the skin of my teeth. i like basic stuff... like money.. you either have it or you don't and its primarily adding and subtracting! that i can do.

[Therese's Mommy]

I see the previous post mentioned codes. Don't know if this was brought up before, but error correcting codes could be cool and simple examples are easy to find. They are used in a lot of things, for example cds and dvds.

[emilysmama]

Google: Curve Stitching

You say that you like sewing? You like art? I have the answer. This is really cool. My 5th grade teacher had everyone in my class do something like this, and I remember it fondly to this very day. At the time, I didn't realize that it had anything to do with math, so it should satisfy your professor's fun requirement.

http://www.montessoriworld.org/Handw...h/stitch1.html

Will give you an idea of what I'm talking about. You could just use pencil and pen, without the embroidery floss, but it is absolutely stunningly gorgeous if you do needle and thread, specifically colored embroidery floss. You don't have to do it with exactly the same equipment that they say. In fifth grade, we didn't do the two straight lines at an angle that you see above. We did a circle.

In fifth grade, what we did is we took a piece of cardstock (thick paper), used a compass to draw a circle about 2 inches radius, and then used a pencil to mark tick marks all the way around the curve of the circle in order to subdivide the circumference into a lot (don't remember, maybe 100) equal arcs. Then we took something sharp (used the dangerous end of the compass), and poked the 100 holes, evenly spaced all the way around the rim of the circle. Then we used the pencil to label each hole, numbered from 1 to 100. Then, we threaded a needle with embroidery floss. I THINK we stitched from hole number 1 to hole number 2, then on the wrong side, we went back to number 1, then we stitched from hole number 1 to hole number 3, etc, until we stitched from hole number 1 to hole number 100. Then I THINK we started at hole number 2, and stitched to each of the other 98 holes in this manner, then started at hole number 3, etc. In the end we ended up with an gorgeous design. I think it was a cardioid (heart shape).

Now, doing this took us days, but we did this while multitasking. (While listening to teacher read a book to us, for example.) So you could do this anytime you would normally knit or have a spare moment, like watching TV or wait in line. It would only take 5 minutes to show the final product in class and explain what you did.

To round out your project, google Mary Everest Boole (1832 - 1916). She was an Englishwoman mathematician who invented this technique in 1904.

[Quinalla]

I think number theory is one of the most fascinating things in math. It is simple to understand the general concepts, but can get very involved. Probably not what you are looking for in this case, but I thought you might be interested anyway. This book has some neat number theory stuff and a very math-light history of how Fermat's Last Theorem was solved: http://www.amazon.com/Fermats-Enigma.../dp/0385493622 I also find calculus extremely fascinating (but that is definitely not going to work for this class) especially the part where you actually derive all those pesky geometry equations they make you memorize. I too hated memorization, there is a very small amount needed in subjects, beyond that you should be able to figure things out from the very basics without needing to memorize. You memorize much more naturally that way IMO!

Music was the other thing I thought of right away. There is so much math in music, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head to show that in a simple presentation. Card games are a good one too and puzzle games like Sodoku. I might do Sodoku actually, explain the basics of the game and a couple of the easier-to-understand methods people use to solve the puzzles.

[meemee]

you know to me it sounds bizarre that he is eliminating everyday math. and trying to show that cool math can be learnt.

i used to be a TA on such a class and i was v. popular (more than the teacher) only because i would always help them see the math in their everyday life. for instance if you asked them what is 10% of 100 you would freak them out. however if converted it into a word problem they got it before i finished saying it. like macy's 10% sale on a $100 skirt.

can you show the math in your dance steps. and use the steps to teach the class - both math and dance? or math thru dance?

[Ubelle]

What about the use of crochet to model and demonstrate hyperbolic space.

Hyperbolic space was difficult to model, can't even be done with a computer, until done with crochet, but it is something that shows up in nature all over the place, plants, single cell organisms and coral reefs.

There is a woman Margaret Wertheim who does a talk on it and worked on a crocheted coral reef project to demonstrate the principle.

If you can crochet or teach yourself quickly how too, you could even have a great visual aid for your presentation.

http://blog.ted.com/2009/04/crocheting_in_h.php

http://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_we...oral_reef.html

http://www.theiff.org/oexhibits/oe1e.html

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/l...cle4243171.ece

It's something I find very fascinating, how something so beautiful and complex can be demonstrated by something so simple.