Geom.edu
is a website that lets you draw your own symmetrical patterns based on certain “wallpaper groups”. The written by Nina Amenta. You can select “Run the Program” on this website and on the left there is a rectangle with a color option; a drop down box that gives you a choice between wallpaper groups , frieze groups , and rosette groups ; and, depending on the group that you choose, there are more buttons to push depending on the type of shapes you would like to make.
Geometrygames.org
was created by Jeff Weeks who also writes text books. On his website there are many different games that can be downloaded to teach children how to make and understand shapes in a way that they are also creating art. These games include Torus Games which “introduce children age 10 and up to the concept of a finite yet unbounded universe”(Weeks, 2007) , Kali where children can “create beautiful art based on the 17 tiling patterns”(Weeks, 2007), and Kaleido Tile which explores polyhedral and tessellations while creating colorful works of art”(Weeks, 2007).
Tessellations and the use of them are explored on
coolmath.com
. This site shows how to make tessellations by using the same shapes and combining shapes to make patterns. It also has links to different games, websites for people of all ages, including teachers and parents; and a link for algebra.
Peda.com
is also about tessellations. The difference is that with the tessellations that you design, they can be shown in different shapes. For example, on the website, someone made a tessellation featuring a man playing a guitar. Not only is it laid out in a flat surface view, but it is also displayed as a cone. You can also design with Heesch tilings. These tilings are defined “to be a tile T that can be surrounded r times but not r +1times by tiles congruent to T”(Friedman). This website also sponsors contests for the tessellations made on its website.
This next website,
mathforum.org
, not only defines tessellations and explains tiling, but it also gives the historical and geographic connections. Many different regions such as Egypt, Persia, Chinese and more people use this type of geometry in their architecture and art work. This type of architecture dates back to the middle ages.
spsu.edu
which is a link from the original website, gives examples of Middle Ages patterns. Another link leads to patterns from the Renaissance and Elizabethan Eras.
F. Permadie developed the next website in 1998.
This website has a window that you can create your own kaleidoscope pattern. You can increase and decrease the size of the brush. There is also an auto button that sets the screen making it's own pattern. The colors change as does the position of the pattern. The only thing is that you cannot print out your design to show others.
Dr. Michael Brooks developed the website
math.udel.edu
. He was an art teacher for the University of Philadelphia and has displayed some of his students' work on the website. He explains different types of symmetry such as mirror reflection , circular mirror reflection , and rotational symmetry .
Intermath-uga
introduces Intermath. Intermath is designed to “enhance a teacher's understanding of middle-grades mathematics”(Intermath). The materials are organized into four key strands. They are Number sense, Algebra, Geometry, and Data Analysis. In these four strands, there are thirteen units which are fraction and decimals; integers; ratios, proportions, and percents; quadrilaterals, triangles, polygons, probability, statistics, solids, circles, graphs, patterns, functions, and equations. They tend to contain open-ended investigations. The two primary components are the workshops and website.
The objectives of Intermath are “strengthening the middle school teacher's knowledge and understanding of mathematics, providing a support structure to aid teachers in implementing and integrating technology tools for doing mathematics, and providing a structured in service curriculum that follows Georgia's Quality Core Curriculum objectives as well as reform efforts expressed in publications by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
