You are a teacher and are considering visiting the exhibition with your class? You can do so at any of the 8 locations.
For class or group visits, we are happy to provide guidance. Such a visit can take place completely unprepared. However, if you also want to make it more useful in terms of content, we can give you a few ideas in advance.
On this page we present a number of thematic information and work sheets. The material was prepared in collaboration with staff and students in the teacher training programs in mathematics at Ghent University and KU Leuven.
We thank:
| Theme | Download |
|---|---|
| Singularities* | click here |
| From sphere to cube* | click here |
| The Wondrous Sunflower* | click here |
| Chaos | click here |
| IOrnament - ornaments with symmetry* | click here |
An important part of the exhibition is the SURFER program. It presents visualizations and their theoretical background from algebraic geometry, singularity theory and differential geometry in an attractive and understandable way. SURFER does all this in real time, so visitors are attracted by the opportunity to contribute to the exhibition themselves. The program demonstrates how mathematics and art can be intertwined. It allows users to build understanding, and experiment with the relationship between formula and form.
The user interface of SURFER is simple. Behind the program there is no didactic theory or artistic approach, the intention is to let visitors share in the joy of creations within mathematics and to free the subject from its often dry and difficult image.
On the surfer interface you can type your own formulas. There is also the possibility of using preset fantasy surfaces and record surfaces. Some of these you can also see on the exhibition. At home, for example, you can see the catalog of the imaginairy-1 exhibit. Important is also, that with the help of 4 parameters, you can try out animations.
So don't wait any longer and download the free program from: https://imaginary.org/program/surfer
At the exhibition you will sometimes see images with more than two colors. That doesn't work with the SURFER program, but it does work with SURFER 2008. That only runs on Windows machines. You can download it from https://imaginary.org/program/surfer-2008. It allows you to draw different surfaces on top of each other, use multiple colors, adjust transparency and also make movies.