Course:SLU MATH 124: Math and Escher - Fall 2012 - Dr. Anneke Bart

Course Information

General

• Class Meets: MWF 9-9:50 in RH 225
• Instructor: Anneke Bart
  • Office: Ritter Hall 115
  • Office Hours: TBA and by appointment.
  • Email: barta@slu.edu
• Prerequisite: 3 years of high school mathematics or Math 120 (College Algebra).

Grading

• Attendance is required. You will have in-class work to be done in groups. One unexcused absence is allowed. Six absences will cause you to lose two letter grades. I only excuse absences when presented with official documentation.
• Homework will be due weekly. Your work should be neat, legible, and stapled. Cooperation is good, but write up results separately. Late homework is always accepted, but I will not write comments and will automatically give a score of 5 (out of 10) if the work is of reasonable quality.
• Exams. I give makeup exams only for severe and documented reasons.
  • Exam 1:
  • Exam 2:
  • Final:
• Grading is on a straight scale, with 90%,80%,70%,60% guaranteeing A,B,C,D. Grading is weighted as follows:
  • Homework: 15%
  • Attendance and in-class work: 15%
  • Projects (4): 5% each
  • • Project 1: Rozette Pattern Project
    • Project 2: Border Pattern Project
    • Project 3: Tessellation Project Lite
    • Project 4: Art and Mathematics Project
  • Exams(2): 10% each
  • Final: 30%

Textbooks

The main text for this course is the Math and the Art of MC Escher online book, at http://math.slu.edu/escher

Also required for the course is D. Schattschneider, Visions of Symmetry. H. Abrams 2004, available at the university bookstore. The paperback 1990 edition is also acceptable.

Honesty

This course is goverened by the Academic Honesty Policy of the College of Arts & Sciences. Plagiarism, cheating and dishonesty will be reported to the dean and may result in probation, expulsion, or worse.

Disabilities

In recognition that people learn in a variety of ways and that learning is influenced by multiple factors (e.g., prior experience, study skills, learning disability), resources to support student success are available on campus. Students who think they might benefit from these resources can find out more about:

Course-level support (e.g., faculty member, departmental resources, etc.) by asking your course instructor. University-level support (e.g., tutoring/writing services, Disability Services) by visiting the Student Success Center (BSC 331) or by going to http://www.slu.edu/success. Students who believe that, due to a disability, they could benefit from academic accommodations are encouraged to contact Disability Services at 314-977-8885 or visit the Student Success Center. Confidentiality will be observed in all inquiries.

Course instructors support student accommodation requests when an approved letter from Disability Services has been received and when students discuss these accommodations with the instructor after receipt of the approved letter.

Math and the Movies

• Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land
• The Dot and the Line
• Flatland- the Movie

Fractals:

• Doodling in Math Class: Infinity Elephants
  Length: 4 min:36sec. Topic: infinite series and fractals. Introduces the Apollonian gasket and the Sierpinski triangle.
• ARTducation Drawing Lesson 17 Fractals
• Arthur C Clarke - Fractals - The Colors Of Infinity A 53 minute movie about the Mandelbrot set.

Golden Section, spirals, etc

• Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant - Part 1
• Doodling in Math Class: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant - Part 2
• Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant Part 3

Knot Theory

• Doodling in Math Class: Snakes + Graphs

Schedule

(Tentative) Schedule for Fall 2012

Week	Date	Topics	Comments
1	Aug 27	Symmetry	We did the following explorations in class: Symmetry of Stars and Polygons Symmetry, Escher and Architecture. You were asked to read the section about Introduction to Symmetry
2	Sep 3	Symmtry and Border Patterns	No class Monday Sep 3 ; We discussed Frieze Patterns We did an alternative version of Identifying Frieze Patterns Exploration; Instead of letters we used a flag, heart and dotted circle.
3	Sep 10	Wallpaper Patterns	Finished the Frieze Pattern Exploration Frieze Group Exploration and Frieze Names Exploration Introduced Wallpaper Patterns
4	Sep 17	Wallpaper Patterns
5	Sep 24	Tessellations
6	Oct 1	Escher-like Tessellations
7	Oct 8	Spherical Geometry
8	Oct 15	Spherical Geometry	Cathedral Basilica Assignment
9	Oct 22	Spherical Geometry	Fall Break M-W
10	Oct 29	Spherical Geometry
11	Nov 5	Hyperbolic Geometry
12	Nov 12	Hyperbolic Geometry
13	Nov 19	Hyperbolic Geometry	Thanksgiving W-F
14	Nov 26	Fractals and the 4th dimension
15	Dec 3	Depth and Perspective
16	Dec 10	Review	December 10: last day of class; review