Mathematics as ongoing cultural activities: Friezes and Mosaics

Pupils need be exposed to the cultural component in any math activities as to provide
worthwhile mathematical experiences for all. These activities emphasize the connection
between culture and Mathematics also together in teaching cooperative learning, and
problem solving. It helps students to feel more comfortable in the math environment that
may give positive impact to Mathematics learning. Teachers need to prepared and well
train in using strategies, techniques, and specific applications to use in the mathematics
classroom.

One connection between math and cultural activity that can be seen is in art or shortly
art math. For example, construct the geometry models. It can be used as math and art
project. Many other activities can be done by teachers in connecting math and art like
connecting the dots, drawing geometry activity, and maybe can teach pupils use the
Geometer’s Sketchpad software.

Mathematics was developing through the development of cultural activities. For

example, like the business. The earlier year we had to use the “Barter” system but
nowadays, as the cultural and civilization was also develop, we now doing business all
around the world and also using many kinds of money currency like, Baht, Rupiah, US
Dolar, Pound and Ringgit Malaysia. The ancient pyramid was also applying the
mathematics in developing the civilization in Egypt, the Babylon, and so on. They are all
using Mathematics until the knowledge of Mathematics that can be learned today. Islam
and Western Mathematician was the great founder of the knowledge in Mathematics.

Nowadays, we believed that all in our lovely home there was tiles everywhere
like at the living room, in the bathroom and all with different patterns and colours. The
connection of mosaics and friezes can be established through the isometries of
Euclidean plane and also transformations of the Gaussian plane. They both produce the
subsets like friezes, wallpapers, decorated rods (tubes), circular and spiral mosaics. For
friezes and wallpapers, there is a complex function that can be used to express the
isometrics of plane.
 f(z) = az + bz + c

where a; b; c 2 C; ab = 0; and |a|2 + |b|2 =

In the isometric of Euclidean space, is exactly from one of the given i) translation ii) reflection
iii) rotation iv) glide reflection v) screw vi) rotary reflection.

Now, let’s turn to the inversive transformation for the circular and spiral mosaics. It
produces more complex groups between groups of tubes and circular or spiral groups. We first
transitioning the problem to symmetries of the covering of a flattened tubes on a complex plane
and then apply the complex function z→ez which transform each of the flattened tube in covering
to annulus.