HONORS GEOMETRY PROJECT

2nd Semester

Get ready to learn some mathematics that you would probably never see in a high school textbook!! This project will require some hard work on your part, but I believe it will be worthwhile. I expect that you will select something that is reasonably challenging to you and that you will put considerable time and effort into your project.

There are several deadlines that you will be required to meet this semester (listed below), to make sure you stay on schedule. You will earn points for successfully completing certain steps. The first deadline is January 31, and you will be required to submit the topic you want to research. The dates below are absolute deadlines, regardless of your presence in school on those days. Please note that the 21st is the day before Spring break, that means if your family is leaving early you must have turned in you proposal before you leave. Failure to meet this deadline will result in a penalty of one full grade.

The final written projects will be due no later than 3:20 pm, Friday, May 16, 1997. You are responsible for getting your project to me. Projects turned in after that date will have one full letter grade subtracted for each day they are late. Weekends and breaks are included.

The following will be considered as your grade is determined.

• Is it well thought out?
• Did the student follow through his/her submitted plan?
• Did the student do his/her share within the group (if applicable)?
• Is the difficulty level suitable for the group?
• Was the project well done? (Or just slapped together?)
• Is the project interesting?
• Is the project original?
• Is the project mathematically accurate?
• Was the presentation to the class meaningful and well-prepared?

Possible Geometry Project Topics:

Archimedean Solids Platonic Solids Fractals Four-color problem Mascheroni Constructions Conic Sections Tangrams Fibonacci numbers From Abacus to Computers Golden Section or Golden Ratio 3 Famous Problems of Antiquity

Könisberg Bridge Problem and Networks Flatland (a book) and the 4th Dimension Sphereland (a book) Parabola and Applications Topology (Mobius Strip, Klein Bottle, etc.) Approximations for (Buffon's needle problem, etc.) Proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem Non-Euclidean geometry ( you will need to narrow this topic) Paradoxes and fallacies (Russell's paradox, Zeno's paradoxes. . .)

The life and mathematics of one of the following:

Hypatia Rene Descartes Ada Byron Lovelace Blaise Pascal Maria Agnesi Euclid Sophie Germain Carl Friedrich Gauss Sonya Kovalevskaya Leonard Euler Caroline Herschel

Nikolay Lobachevsky Mary Fairfax Somerville Archimedes Grace Chisolm Young Thales of Miletus Emmy Noether Gerard Desargues Emilie de Beteuil (Emilie du Chatelet/Marquise du Chatelet) Pierre de Fermat

Important dates and deadlines:

January 31 topic due
February 5 research day in room 313A
February 14 bibliography due
March 7 notecard check
March 11-13 lab days & advising meeting (tentative)
March 21 project proposal due
April 4 outline due
April 9 lab day (tentative)
April 25 rough draft due
May 2 lab day (tentative)
May 16 paper and visuals due
May 19-30 project presentations

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