Family Math

Did you know that Family Math has a puzzle of the week page?  The URL is:

http://www.familymath.org/taxonomy/term/43

Solving math puzzles is a wonderful and creative way to learn math and can be a family endeavor also.  Please consider having you or your child write their own solution to the puzzles as a "comment" on our web page.  Currently there are 8 puzzles.  If you have suggestions for new puzzles please email me. 

The Math club meets most Sundays in Williams 302 Ithaca College and the schedule is at:

http://www.familymath.org/math-club/schedule

We are looking for parent volunteers (with kids also) to do presentations that relate math to life. I am willing to help train families.  For example math and cooking could be a wonderful presentation. Choose anything that relates to your interests.  Please email danovak@gmail.com if you are willing to help.

Our next Math Club meeting will be on  1/10/10 on the topic of Electronic Music Synthesis. Kevin Ernste, Director of the Cornell Electroacoustic Music Center, knows how to capture and create sounds, then twist and turn them with digital tools, and finally piece them together into extraordinary works of art. Kevin will describe how he performs these feats, and we'll look at some of the math involved (in a way that's accessible). We'll all try our hand at electronic music synthesis, and Kevin will leave us with a new software tool or two to play with and plenty to explore on our own.

Much Love to all of you and a Happy and Blissful and Peaceful Year,

--Dani


--
Dr.  Dani Novak
Department of Mathematics
Ithaca College
Ithaca NY 14850
(607)274-3595

www.ithaca.edu/dani
www.familymath.org

If you like making stuff with computers, you will especially enjoy the next two math club presentations, one about creating 3D images and another about creating electronic music. I know that for many of you, just reading the descriptions below will start your heart thumping in anticipation. Please note that there will be no math club meeting on 12/27 and 1/3.

12/20/09 Realistic image synthesis: using math to make pictures of things that aren't there. Jim Ferwerda will talk about the math and science of 3D realistic image synthesis: using computers to make images of non-existent objects that are indistinguishable from photographs of real things. We'll explore the roles that math, physics, and psychology play in making realistic pictures and do some imaging projects that illustrate the differences between perception and reality.

1/10/10 Electronic Music Synthesis. Kevin Ernste, Director of the Cornell Electroacoustic Music Center, knows how to capture and create sounds, then twist and turn them with digital tools, and finally piece them together into extraordinary works of art. Kevin will describe how he performs these feats, and we'll look at some of the math involved (in a way that's accessible). We'll all try our hand at electronic music synthesis, and Kevin will leave us with a new software tool or two to play with and plenty to explore on our own.

-Larry

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The Family Math Club meets Sundays from 2pm to 3:30pm on the third floor of Williams Hall on the Ithaca College Campus. Meetings are free and open to everyone. Kids aged 8 to 13 have reported enjoying the club. To get to the club travel to South Hill on 96B. Turn into the Ithaca College main entrance. Go three fourths around the circle and then along a straight stretch. Take the first right (a sign here says "admissions"). Williams Hall is the second building on your left. Enter either the front or the back and take either the stairs or the elevator to the third floor. Consult http://ithaca.edu for parking ideas.

After a brief hiatus for the holidays, Family Math Club will resume this Sunday 12/6 with a presentation by Ithaca College math professor David Brown. David will tell us about magic squares: numbers arranged in rows and columns and chosen so that all rows, columns, and diagonals add up to the same number. At first glance magic squares may seem frivolous; upon closer inspection one finds great depth.

-Larry

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The Family Math Club meets Sundays from 2pm to 3:30pm on the third floor of Williams Hall on the Ithaca College Campus. Meetings are free and open to everyone. Kids aged 8 to 13 have reported enjoying the club. To get to the club travel to South Hill on 96B. Turn into the Ithaca College main entrance. Go three fourths around the circle and then along a straight stretch. Take the first right (a sign here says "admissions"). Williams Hall is the second building on your left. Enter either the front or the back and take either the stairs or the elevator to the third floor. Consult http://ithaca.edu for parking ideas.

Next Sunday we have a presentation that I think captures very well what we are trying to do with the Family Math Club: show that math is something exquisite and enjoyable that is woven into the very fabric of our daily lives. Do you like to crochet? Do you like to solve puzzles? Next Sunday we will be doing both at the same time.

Daina Taimina is a mathematician at Cornell who crochets objects to illustrate mathematical concepts. "Colleagues were intrigued that her creations embodied concepts they had been teaching for years but never actually seen" (Wikipedia). Daina's work has since appeared in numerous national periodicals and art galleries--you may have seen her work at the Tompkins County Public Library earlier this year.

At 2 to 3:30 on Sunday November 15th Daina will share her stuff with the Family Math Club. Daina will explain how to visualize hyperbolic geometry, how to find negative curvature in nature, as well as lead a hands-on learning session on creating your own hyperbolic plane either by crochet or making it out of paper.

I insist that you come! If you want to do some preliminary reading:

Daina's website:
http://www.math.cornell.edu/~dtaimina/

Nice explanation of the history and math of hyperbolic planes:
http://theiff.org/lectures/05a.html

-Larry Clarkberg

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The Family Math Club meets Sundays from 2pm to 3:30pm on the third floor of Williams Hall on the Ithaca College Campus. Meetings are free and open to everyone. Kids aged 8 to 13 have reported enjoying the club. To get to the club travel to South Hill on 96B. Turn into the Ithaca College main entrance. Go three fourths around the circle and then along a straight stretch. Take the first right (a sign here says "admissions"). Williams Hall is the second building on your left. Enter either the front or the back and take either the stairs or the elevator to the third floor. Consult http://ithaca.edu for parking ideas.

What if you wanted to copy a letter but upon checking your calendar you discovered that the year was 1803, at which time the xerox machine had not yet been invented? You would use a pantograph, a simple mechanism for copying drawings. And if you wanted to copy your dear friend's profile for posterity, you might use a physiognotrace, a similar machine. How do these machines work?

At 2 to 3:30 on Sunday November 8th math club member Edith McCrea will talk about the history and math behind the pantograph. We will have the opportunity to make our own pantographs and (if I can get my physiognotrace together) trace our faces.

Note also that the Family Math Fun Day is on the day before (10 to 1 Saturday 11/7) also on the third floor of Williams Hall. See you there!

-Larry

read about the pantograph:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph

read about the physiognotrace:
http://lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2539#

hmmm, the secret of their operation may have something to do with similar triangles...
http://www.mathopenref.com/similartriangles.html

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The Family Math Club meets Sundays from 2pm to 3:30pm on the third floor of Williams Hall on the Ithaca College Campus. Kids aged 8 to 13 have reported enjoying the club. To get to the club travel to South Hill on 96B. Turn into the Ithaca College main entrance. Go three fourths around the circle and then along a straight stretch. Take the first right (a sign here says "admissions"). Williams Hall is the second building on your left. Enter either the front or the back and take either the stairs or the elevator to the third floor. Consult http://ithaca.edu for parking ideas.

Who knew folding paper could be this fun? And yet also very much grounded in mathematical principles?

Next Sunday 11/1 we'll look at the mathematics behind origami. Then expert folder Melanie Stein and her assistants will help us make animals, decorations, flowers, and action figures. No prior experience is necessary. Suggested age: 5 and up.

Also of interest to Origami lovers:

Think origami is just paper planes and cranes? [The movie] BETWEEN THE FOLDS introduces a determined group of theoretical scientists, mathematicians and fine artists who have abandoned careers and scoffed at hard-earned graduate degrees to forge new lives as modern-day paper folders. Together they reinterpret the world in paper, creating a wild mix of sensibilities towards art, science, creativity and meaning.

Friday, November 20, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Henry St. John Building - Suite 103
301 S. Geneva St.
(corner of Clinton & Geneva Streets)

There are some nice folding diagrams on the PBS website:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/between-the-folds/getinvolved.html

-Larry

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The Family Math Club meets Sundays from 2pm to 3:30pm on the third floor of Williams Hall on the Ithaca College Campus. Kids aged 8 to 13 have reported enjoying the club. To get to the club travel to South Hill on 96B. Turn into the Ithaca College main entrance. Go three fourths around the circle and then along a straight stretch. Take the first right (a sign here says "admissions"). Williams Hall is the second building on your left. Enter either the front or the back and take either the stairs or the elevator to the third floor. Consult http://ithaca.edu for parking ideas.

The Family Math Club will begin its second season on Sunday, October 25th from 2pm to 3:30pm. As before we will be doing our thing on the third floor of Williams Hall on the Ithaca College campus. "Our thing" is to enjoy a casual brain-tingling presentation by local math enthusiasts of all types. Presentations are often followed by a craft activity or a computer activity. Often someone brings snacks. Sometimes we play board games. It is futile to describe our club meetings in terms of age appropriateness: young kids tend to gather around craft activities; older kids gather around the computers to show off their latest programming handiwork; and adults gather in the corner to discuss the deeper philosophical implications of the presentation.

We already have many renowned presenters lined up:

10/25/2009 Math and Music by Dani Novak, Ryan Salisbury and Larry Clarkberg. Remember daylight savings time starts today!

11/1/09 Advanced Origami Workshop by Melanie Stein

(Saturday 11/7/09 is the Family Math Fair 10am to 1pm also at Williams Hall)

11/8/09 The Pantograph by Edith McCrea. Edith will tell us this history and mathematics of this simple invention for copying and enlarging drawings. Then we'll all make our own pantograph.

11/15/09 Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes: Exploring Negative Curvature. Daina Taimina will explain how to visualize hyperbolic geometry, how to find negative curvature in nature, as well as lead a hands-on learning session on creating your own hyperbolic plane either by crochet or making it out of paper. You may have seen her work recently on display at the library.

For more information about the Family Math Club see:
http://familymath.org/math-clubs

See you there!

-Larry Clarkberg

Lots of people *play* music on their computers these days. Next Sunday 5/17 we'll explore how to *make* music using two free programs:

* With Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) you can record sounds and manipulate your recordings.

* With Pure Data (http://puredata.info/), you can create sounds mathematically from the basic components of sound such as sine waves and noise. Pure Data is the modern digital equivalent of the Moog synthesizer invented in Trumansburg in the 1960s and used by rock musicians of that era. Groovy.

If you can, bring a portable instrument and we'll all collaborate on a wildly ambitious group composition.

Note that this will be our last Family Math Club meeting for the season; we'll resume on approximately 10/25/2009. Let me know if you can enjoy marching in the Ithaca Festival Parade with Family Math at 6:30pm on Thursday May 28th.

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The Family Math Club meets Sundays from 2pm to 3:30pm on the third floor of Williams Hall on the Ithaca College Campus. Kids aged 8 to 13 have reported enjoying the club. To get to the club travel to South Hill on 96B. Turn into the Ithaca College main entrance. Go three fourths around the circle. Take the first right (a sign here says "admissions"). Williams Hall is the second building on your left. Enter either the front or the back and take either the stairs or the elevator to the third floor.

I just got an email informing me that there is a spot for the Family Math Club in the Ithaca Festival parade (which starts at 5:30 on Thursday May 28th). Awesome. Everyone knows this is the zaniest small town parade around. And now we have a chance to be a part of it! What sort of costumes and gimmicks can we come up with to tell Ithaca who we are and what we're about? I can certainly reuse the geodesic sphere I constructed for the Earth Day parade--see:

http://familymath.org/node/209
But what else can we do? Be prepared to discuss your ideas at our next meeting. The schedule for the next couple of weeks is as follows:

5/9/2009 (Saturday 9 to 3) meet at the Young Eagles event at the Ithaca Airport in which kids aged 8 to 17 can fly in a small plane. There will be lots of other activities. See:
http://www.lightlink.com/ithnet/Orgs/EHFC//youngeagles.html
*** Note that there is a registration form on this web page that you should send in prior to 5/9 if you want to fly. ***

5/10/2009 (Sunday) club meeting canceled

5/17/2009 Last club meeting for the season! Larry will demonstrate music synthesis software. We'll create a group composition. If you like, bring a portable musical instrument and a snack.

Next Sunday (5/3) local aviator David St. George will present the mathematics of aviation (custom taylored to the age range of the audience), followed by hands-on activities involving flight simulators in the computer lab. This is a great way to prepare yourself to fly a small plane on May 9th Young Eagles event at the Ithaca Airport.

Also note: our annual Family Math Camp will be held August 10th to August 14th. Read more and apply at:
http://familymath.org/2009-math-camp

-Larry