We are fond of saying things are symmetric, but what does that really mean? Intuitively we have a sense of symmetry as a kind of mirroring. Suppose we draw a vertical line through the middle of a ...

On the road to algebra, children must learn a weird idea: that numbers can be smaller than zero (negative) and can be mixed with numbers greater than zero (positive) in an equation. Now researchers at ...

To begin to understand what mathematicians and physicists see in the abstract structures of symmetries, let’s start with a familiar shape. We are fond of saying things are symmetric, but what does ...

Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. Symmetry also has an aesthetic meaning, although this is ...

Symmetry is when one side of a shape is a mirror image of the other side. Lots of buildings and everyday objects use symmetry because it looks appealing to the human eye. Watch the video below from ...

There's a part of the brain that enables us to perceive magnitude -- we can compare loudness when hearing different tones or compare the number of dots in a group at a glance. Neuroscientists have ...

Big Idea – We can describe, measure, and compare spatial relationships. to build on students' knowledge of line symmetry and develop students' reasoning with properties of symmetry to develop an ...

Early in the morning during festivals, many Indian homes wake up to patterns forming quietly at the doorstep. White powder ...

A shape has a line of symmetry when the folded part sits perfectly on top with all edges matching. The number of lines of symmetry in a regular polygon is equal to the number of sides. A shape has ...

Have you ever admired how the slats of a hardwood floor fit together so cleanly, or how the hexagons underneath your bathroom rug perfectly meet up? These are examples of geometric tilings, ...