This post describes supplies for the activities in Imago Mobiles and how to prepare them. First, you will need straight beams with regularly spaced holes. Ideally the center one will be labeled with a “0”, the two adjacent to the center labeled with “1”s, the next two out labeled with “2”, and so on. You […]
Before you leave the Texas Discovery Gardens, be sure to appreciate Imago, the public art installation in the entrance foyer of the Gardens inspired by many aspects of the insect and plant life that abound there. But how can it also inspire us mathematically? There are likely many ways, but one important way is by […]
Perhaps the most eye-catching feature of Dallas Fair Park is the gold-leaf wrapped Tower Building. Yes, that is real gold! Because of the allure and attraction of gold, our first math walk stop in Fair Park will be to ask, “How much is all of that gold on the Tower Building worth?” Before we go […]
Perhaps your stroll around Dallas Fair Park brings you to the Esplanade, a stately reflecting pool between Centennial Hall and the Automotive Building. The designers of the Esplanade for the 1936 World’s Fair had a difficulty, however: one end of the Esplanade is five to ten feet higher than the other, and of course water […]
Here’s a picture of one of the spouts of the Cooper Centennial Fountain in the Turner Quad on SMU campus. Do you notice anything of interest about the way the water falls? One thing that many people notice is that the water flows in toward the center on either side of the stream. Why would […]
As we’ve seen in other posts, the elegant architecture of the Southern Methodist University campus is a rich source for seeing mathematical concepts in action. One technique that architects use to unify the design of a building is to have a repeated feature or shape that recurs in multiple circumstances in the building (much as […]