Trianglethon - We built the World’s Largest Fractal Triangle!
March 1, 2011 by FractalMan
Filed under Fractal Trianglethon, Fractals in the News
On Sunday April 10, 2011, we built the world’s largest fractal triangle in the Albuquerque Convention Center. Almost 100 volunteers helped assemble the 192′ wide triangle - incredibly in just under 1 hour. Children from all over the world participated by creating triangles. See the full list of participating schools here.
This is a giant math project as well as a collaborative art project. The triangles are assembled in self-similar groups of three in the following sequence: 3, 9, 27, 81, 243, 729, 2187, 6561. One of the many math lessons people learn through this project is about exponents, and 6561 is 3 raised to the 8th power (3^8) or 3×3x3×3x3×3x3×3.
One of thousands of fractal triangles that were part of the Trianglethon.
The giant triangle of 2010. This one contained 2187 triangles.
Many thanks to all the volunteers, all the children who made triangles, and to the Albuquerque Convention Center for graciously donating the exhibit hall for the Trianglethon!
How many triangles do you need as of January 25, 2011? I am interested in holding a local franctalathon …
Dear Jonathan,
Hi. I am a teacher in Santa Fe and attendend the PD workshop in January. I have 25 triangles from ATC charter school. Where should I send them? I will get them into the mail first thing Monday!
Yvette Martinez
505-577-3734
Sounds like a neat event; I am sorry I am not able to come. Has anybody calculated how many iterations the finished fractal would be?
Are you going to triple the size in 2012? If so, I have 3^4 + 1 students that can participate!
I have worked with fractals the last three years, and your website has inspired me to attempt organizing a local system-wide trianglethon. Where can I get information regarding the execution of such a large project?