Tuyetdong Phan-Yamada

Math Lecturer
Cal State Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA, USA

I like to show my students that Math is more than numbers or variables, x, y and z. Besides many practical applications, I would like my students to discover some art work hidden in their Math courses. This art work is a part of a project I created for my students to explore polar curves in Trigonometry and Calculus. My students and I found several beautiful curves. I would like to share some of my work.

Polar Curves Imitating Nature
Polar Curves Imitating Nature
20 x 25 cm
Picture on Paper
2012

To help my students understand graphing polar curves, I wrote an interactive graphing app with a free software, GeoGebra. My students got the concept and we all had a fun time playing with the app! I like to create polar functions that imitate shapes in nature. These are two examples. Check out my website to see the app and my students’ work. http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/tuyetdong-phan-yamada