Search

Technology can be a significant aide in understanding and appreciating geome- try, beyond theoretical considerations. Both fiber art and technology have been employed as a significant aide and an inspiring vessel in education to explore geometry. The Japanese craft known as temari, or \hand-balls", combines im- portant artistic, spiritual, and familial values, and provides one such approach to exploring geometry. Mathematically, the artwork of temari may be classified based on whether they are inspired by polyhedra and discrete patterns or by periodic functional curves. The resulting designs of these categories provide an ancient vantage for displaying spherical patterns. We illustrate a technique that combines the fiber art of temari with interactive computer visualizations. In ad- dition, we provide guided activities to help promote a deeper understanding of how functions and patterns arise on a spherical surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]