Ask a Mathematician: Summer Edition
With Dr. Jane Heffernan
Moderated by Dr. Pam*
Organized, Hosted and Supported by the The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences
Generously Supported by the Math Knowledge Network
*Dr. Pam works for the Fields Institute as an Academic Coordinator for the Fields Academy program. She is providing hosting space for these materials here on her companies’ website (VedaVox) until they find a permanent home on the Fields website.
Meet Dr. Heffernan
Dr. Jane Heffernan works in Mathematical Biology, she is also a member of the COVID-19 Task Force at Fields and applies her research to helping us understand how disease spreads and what we can do to help.
What is a Fractal?
In this short video we are going to talk about something infinite… fractals!
A Quick Lesson in Division
This video is a quick recap into the definition of division and how to deal with remainders. Don’t worry if you don’t remember it all or you haven’t learned it yet, this is just a very quick intro.
Some Points on Decimals
A little refresher on what decimals are, what they mean, and how we name them (including why there is no such thing as the oneths place).
Drawing an Equilateral Triangle
For this activity we’ll learn how to draw an equilaterial triangle using a compass.
If you don’t have a compass, that’s ok, you can still learn how it’s done!
Let’s Make a Snowflake
The Koch (prononced like Coke) Snowflake is a fractal pattern made by adding elements to a shape.
To make this one it is recommended you have a compass but it’s not needed to get an idea of the pattern.
The Cantor Set
This is another fractal pattern we can make. It is made by following a pattern where we subtract a piece at each stage.
This one is made using red licorice!