Mandalas

The Pattern of Creation: The word "mandala" is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit. Loosely translated to mean "circle,“

sacred geometry The term is used by archaeologists, anthropologists, and geometricians to encompass the religious, philosophical, and spiritual beliefs that have sprung up around geometry in various cultures during the course of human history.

links the mandala appears in all aspects of life: the celestial circles we call earth, sun, and moon, as well as conceptual circles of friends, family, and community.

From micro to macro The "circle with a center" pattern is the basic structure of creation that is reflected from the micro to the macro in the world as we know it. It is a pattern found in nature and is seen in biology, geology, chemistry, physics and astronomy.

The planet On our planet, living things are made of cells and each cell has a nucleus -- all display circles with centers. The crystals that form ice, rocks, and mountains are made of atoms. Each atom is a mandala.

A cross-cultural pattern The mandala pattern is used in many religious traditions. Hildegard von Bingen, a Christian nun in the 12th century, created many beautiful mandalas to express her visions and beliefs.

North American Mandalas In the Americas, Natives have created medicine wheels and sand mandalas. The circular Aztec calendar was both a timekeeping device and a religious expression of ancient Aztecs.

Asia In Asia, the Taoist "yin-yang" symbol represents opposition as well as interdependence. Tibetan mandalas are often highly intricate illustrations of religious significance that are used for meditation.

NATIVE AMERICAN GEOMETRY is a physical, proportional geometry that originates from the simple circle. A growing body of architectural and iconographic evidence from Native America suggests it was a relatively common tradition that has been practiced for at least two thousand years.

I thought this was math class? Some of the things you will find. Patterns & art, symmetry, proportions, geometric constructions & problem solving. Point, line, line segment; diameter, radius, chord, circle, center, arc. Polygons: triangle, square, rectangle, hexagon, pentagon, octagon, decagon, dodecagon, parallelogram, trapezoid, rhombus, sphere, cube, quadrilateral, pyramid. 2- dimensional and 3-dimensional figures Intersecting lines, intersecting arcs, intersecting circles, Venn diagram; bisection and bisecting lines; perpendicular bisectors. Parallel and perpendicular lines; oblique, diagonal; horizontal and vertical lines. Length, width, area, surfaces, faces, edges, vertex, congruent angles; corresponding side; base, height, perimeter. The 360-degree circle; Protractor skills, angles, right angle; acute & obtuse angles; central and interior angles, supplementary and complementary angles. Congruent vs. Similar. Fractions: 1/2s, 1/3s, 1/4s, 1/5s, 1/6s, 1/8s, 1/10s, 1/12s, 1/16 s. Translation of irrational numbers from 16ths to 10ths, from inches to centimeters. Proportional Constants, Decimals, Irrational numbers, Square roots, Pi, Phi, Squaring numbers. Symbolic sentences for describing a vast range of math relationships.

Hexagonal Figure

Shapes from the hexagonal figure

Pentagons

Quadrilaterals

Angles in a Hexagon Mosaic

Hexagonal figure = Mandala