I had the pleasure of being the co-presenter of a workshop called “Fibonacci, Fractals, and the Common Core Math Standards” at the VCTM conference at Saint Michael’s College on Friday. My partners were Professor Tim Whiteford of Saint Michael’s College and Laura Sommariva, a math teacher at Colchester High School.
The three of us shared what we’d done with students during a fifth grade field trip to Tim’s famous Penny Arcade. Here is Tim’s original write-up about that.
As promised, for the participants in our workshop and others, here are the resources we used to teach about fractals and Fibonacci numbers.
The Fractal Foundation Fractivities. How to draw Sierpinski triangles, do fractal cutouts and more.
Worksheetworks. Create your own graph paper and triangle paper.
On Being a Plant, Part 1, the 6 minute Vi Hart video we watched. She explains Fibonacci numbers, and demonstrates how to count the spirals on pinecones, draw realistic pinecones, and use graph paper to make a golden spiral.
Laura teaches summer math classes for elementary students in Switzerland. She has photos of her students here doing wonderful, related activities like building giant tetrahedrons out of mini marshmallows.
Have fun!
