Term Projects, MATH 5210/7210

Projects should involve three-dimensional geometry, and they should include physical models.

Project proposals are due Tuesday, March 4. The project description should be at least 250 words, and it should include a preliminary list of references. If it's a group project, your proposal should list the members of the group. (Only one proposal for the whole group is needed.) You should also specify the format of your project (e.g. paper, web site, video), and whether you are going to give a presentation in class. An in-class presentation should be accompanied by a paper or a web site.

Projects are due Tuesday, April 15. Project presentations will be scheduled the last two weeks of class.

Suggested topics:

geodesic domes (Buckminster Fuller)
buckyballs
octet truss
tensegrity
geometry and architecture
crystal structure
diamond crystal
space filling polyhedra
sphere packing
dual Archimedean solids
stellations of polyhedra
nine regular polyhedra
zonohedra (H. S. M. Coxeter)
ZomeTool
3D puzzles
geometry of the human body
ergonomics
geometry of the honeycomb
geometry of DNA
chirality in chemistry and biology
geometry and biology (Sir D'Arcy Thompson)
Plato's "Timaeus"
volume formulas (Archimedes)
why did Archimedes cry "eureka"?
geometry and astronomy (Johannes Kepler)
spherical geometry
Descartes' formula for polyhedra
Euler's formula for polyhedra (Imre Lakatos)
conic sections
regular polyhedra in four dimensions
tesseract (Thomas Banchoff)
fractals (Benoit Mandelbrot)
geometry and art
perspective drawing
computer-aided design (CAD)
3D geometry in the NCTM Standards