Cynthia Lanius

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     Send mail   Fractals on the Web     The Math Forum   Other Math Lessons     by Cynthia Lanius   Awards     This Site has received

What are Fractals? They're everywhere, those bright, weird, beautiful shapes called fractals. But what are they, really? Fractals are geometric figures, just like rectangles, circles and squares, but fractals have special properties that those figures do not have. There's lots of information on the Web about fractals, but most of it is either just pretty pictures or very high-level mathematics. So this fractals site is for kids, to help them understand what the weird pictures are all about - that it's math - and that it's fun! Teachers: Every lesson has a print version for classroom use. Fractals make "Cool Science" News Winners and New Champions! Sierpinski 2002 Champions! Congratulations on an awesome Sierpinski Triangle Congratulations! Students in Mr. Lynch's class in Sandpoint,Idaho created this 12th iteration Jurassic Park Fractal. It took 256 copies of their original to make. Great job.Here's last year's 11th-iteration version. Elementary School Champions! Third grade students in Ms. Renner's class at Alief ISD's Chambers Elementary in Houston, TX made this this 9th iteration Jurassic Park Fractal. Wow! And look at what preschoolers do!

URL http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/frac/

Copyright 1996-2007 by Cynthia Lanius

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