Concord.org - @CONCORD: Join Us Online

Fall 1998 | Table of Contents | Library Index | CC Home

Redecorated Web Site

In September we finished a redesign of our overall Concord Consortium web site, which has evolved to meet the needs of progressive, new technologies. Thanks to our web diva, Jeannie Finks, we have a fresher look and up-to-date information about the organization.

We now have extensive information about our four Centers and the projects associated with them:

The Educational Technology Lab
The Center for a Sustainable Future
The Modeling Center
The International Center

Our site contains articles about educational technology by our staff and others, back issues of @CONCORD, and various educational resources, including a video production guide and a list of useful web addresses. There is also information about The Concord Consortium, including our strategy and vision for the future of education, and how to contact us. We have also visually incorporated elements of nature that clarify the meaning and mathematics of our sunflower logo (see the following heading).

www.concord.org

Mathematics of a Sunflower

Ever wonder why we have a sunflower for our logo? We chose the sunflower because it is a beautiful representative of the close association between mathematics and nature, one that the Greeks used also for the construction of the Parthenon.

The inner spirals of the sunflower are actually a mathematical series, called Fibonacci numbers, that nature evolved as a way to prevent wasteful overlap of leaves on a stem. The series is formed by summing two consecutive numbers to get the next number. The first ten Fibonacci numbers are 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55. If you count the number of spiral arms in each direction of a sunflower, you find Fibonacci numbers. You'll also find Fibonacci numbers in pine cones, sea shells, and other natural forms, many of which are now on our web site.

www.concord.org/library/pdf/mathdes.pdf

Fall 1998 | Table of Contents | Library Index | CC Home

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