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Introduction to Transformations
- Visitors observe two artfully presented sequences of porcelain
objects that show how coffee cups and forks can be deformed into donuts
and spheres, respectively. |
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Genus
Sorting Table - Visitors sort objects by a characteristic so
basic that mathematicians call it an object's "genus". What is this
characteristic? The number of holes.
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Transformation
Interactive - Original animation entices visitors to explore
a topological world where donuts can turn into coffee cups, and a sphere
can turn inside out. A matching game and topology video are included. |
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Stonehenge
Link Sculpture - Visitors observe and touch a circular array
of 28 nearly identical curved bars with rings which gradually link and
unlink. The sculpture is like a proof in physical form. By
applying the same rule (small, oozy deformations of shape) over and over
again, what appears to be linked proves to be not linked at all. |
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Not
Knot - Located adjacent to knot and link activities, this video
defines a mathematical knot and introduces several concepts relevant to
knot theory. |
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Thought
experiment - Visitors are taken on an imaginative journey within
and around a knot. |
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explainers or demos
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Knot
and Link Models - At least four small manual interactives. Visitors
encounter knot and link models, cultural string games, and even a model
of "the space where a knot is not" to learn more about mathematicians'
conceptions of knots and links. |
related
teacher manual page
museum
explainers or demos
links
of interest on the WWW
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Celtic
knot coloring classroom activity |
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T-shirt
puzzle -
Visitors try to turn a T-shirt inside out on an "alien"
whose arms are connected. This engaging puzzle helps visitors explore what
can change and what stays the same in linked objects. |
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teacher manual page
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explainers or demos
links
of interest on the WWW
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Mobius
Models -
Visitors explore a Mobius monorail and Mobius storybook,
each of which proves to have only one side and one edge! |
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Surface
Construction - Visitors see computer generated minimal surfaces
dancing to music. They can the choose to try their hand at making a variety
of surfaces by gluing the edges of a rectangle together, or by puncturing
and stretching a donut. |
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Costa
- Visitors can explore one of the largest models of a Costa
surface ever made. The Costa surface is an intriguing (and mathematically
significant) minimal surface discovered in the last decade. |
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Costa
Models -
Visitors can hold the Costa surface in their hands,
construct a Costa surface from eight very similar pieces, and create a
Costa from a punctured donut.
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Soap
Films - Visitors dip four wire frames in soap solution to see
how nature "solves' minimal surface problems. Nearby, visitors can see
dramatic full color images of newly discovered minimal surfaces produced
with the aid of computers. The lesson comes full circle as visitors learn
that this mathematical research is now aiding our understanding of cell
structures found in nature. |
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Shadow
Sculptures - Visitors manipulate 3-d sculptures behind a screen
to project 2-D shadows for the visitors out front. Visitors discover that
a variety of objects may cast the same projections. |
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4-D
projections - Visitors closely examine the 2-D projections of
an ordinary cube. Nearby, visitors explore 3-D projections of a four-dimensional
hypercube. Visitors are invited to try to imagine the hypercube. |
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