Cynthia Lanius

Fractals in Nature

Table of Contents       Introduction   Why study fractals?     What's so hot about     fractals, anyway?   Making fractals     Sierpinski Triangle           Using Java           Math questions           Sierpinski Meets Pascal     Jurassic Park Fractal           Using JAVA           It grows complex           Real first iteration           Encoding the fractal           World's Largest     Koch Snowflake           Using Java           Infinite perimeter           Finite area           Anti-Snowflake              Using Java   Fractal Properties     Self-similarity     Fractional dimension     Formation by iteration   For Teachers     Teachers' Notes     Teacher-to-Teacher   Comments     My fractals mail     Send fractals mail   Fractals on the Web     The Math Forum   Other Math Lessons     by Cynthia Lanius   Awards     This Site has received

On this page are pictures taken by children after placing Sierpinski Tetrahedra in the locations of their choosing at the Arizona State University Desert Park Arboretum on October 4, 2001. This outdoor excursion was a follow-up event to a presentation about fractals given by Gayla Chandler at the College of Education Preschool, accompanied by Professor John Jones of the Department of Mathematics and Charlotte Woodward, Director of the Preschool, along with her staff and volunteers, two days earlier. Present at both events were eleven preschoolers and nine middle-school child-journalists representing the Pinnacle Press, a newspaper by children for children representing children from seven Scottsdale schools. The middle-school children were there to report on the preschoolers. Both events were covered in the October 2001 edition of the Pinnacle Press. The idea behind the Fractals in Nature pictures is to provide children with an aesthetic, tactile mathematical experience that blends math with the environment and artistic expression, to put math in a gentle yet exciting light. Although some instruction is necessarily associated with these events/presentations, the purpose behind them is to inspire children to want to learn about mathematics. Please look at Gayla's fabulous website. Gayla has a BA in mathematics from ASU and is currently a student worker at ASU while taking classes part-time. URL http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/frac/asu

Copyright 2001-2007 by Cynthia Lanius