Geometry 2014

Instructor: Jonathan Choate, Groton School, Groton, MA

Reflective Summary by Diana Tunnell
6/27/14 Day 6 Fractals
The last topic covered in the Geometry 2014 class was on fractals. Fractals can be appreciated in a
mathematics class for the complex patterns, artisitc beauty, and mathematical relationships.
We began by creating a basic fractal by hand. Our fractal pattern was created by shrinking an original segment
by 1/3 (scale factor removing the middle third of the segment). We then rotated the middle 1/3 segment by
60 degrees and reflected it about a vertical axis to create a negative sloped segment connecting to the right
third of our original segment. We repeated this process three times recording thenumber of pieces in the
fractal and the scale factor from the orginial. We then used the generalized expression for the number of
pieces and the scaling factor to create a proportion that describes the measure of roughness for the fractal.


We then looked at how a fractals slides and rotations can be described using a transformation matrix which
one might use in an advanced math class.





Finally, we reviewed a number of different online tools related to fractal exploration. The image to the left is a
screenshot of The Chaos Game which utilizes a well-known fractal design called the Serpinski triangle.The
website (see handout) states that the Chaos Game is intended to strengthen the players geometric intuition
and algorithmic thinking. The challenge is to get the red dot in the bottom right corner within the green
triange in as few movements as possible. The applet has predetermined rules for what type of move can be
made and the length of the move. Playing the game helps the user to identify with the movements that must
take place in forming the fractals.
The applet to the right is Fractalina (see Handout). This applet provides a drop down to form other well-known
fractals in addition to the Serpinski triangle or the user can define his own. The user can also preset colors,
move seed points, and zoom in to see greater detail. This applet allows for greater individual creativity in
designing a fractal.