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Week 3: Patterns and Problem Solving

Hello readers!

Today I'd like to talk about folding paper. Don't get too excited though, we didn't make or study any hexaflexagons; that would be way too complicated. We used a simple model and contemplated on the predictive power of its patterns.

What I'm talking about is the interesting activity we did last class. It involved folding a simple strip of paper and the main point of the activity was to provide an opportunity to use the methods for approaching a problem. We were asked to fold a strip of paper in half as many times as possible, always folding the left end onto the right end. After each fold we would then unfold the strip to record the direction of the resulting crease, which either went up or down. The question was to find a way to predict the direction of the creases, in relation to how many folds were made. At first, the problem seemed very simple, until the actual results of the creases were recorded. Rather than a straightforward repeating pattern, every time the paper was folded an additional time it seemed that a slew of random new creases were added, with a sort of mirror image of creases from that first crease that was made. 

So many patterns seemed to pop out from the results! But how do we determine which ones are relevant? Which patterns hold the key to predicting the crease pattern based on the number of folds? This problem suddenly much more challenging due to the noise of patterns that could be extracted from this experiment. In the limited time that we had, I would say that my partner and I got pretty close to solving the problem.

While achieving results is important, I personally was very happy with the fact that I was able to sift through the results and focus on the information I needed. For me, clarity and flexible filtering of results goes hand in hand, and are necessary to solving any tough problem. Even though I wasn't able to completely solve the problem this time, I know for next time to dive straight into the planning of the solution, instead of trying to find a solution right away. To many people, taking time to plan a possible solution would appear to be a waste, however taking random paths for a solution will end up taking a longer time as the complexity of problems increase. 

That's it for today folks! I hope that this gives you a little bit to think about (but not too much because who wants to think that much about a blog post?).
Remember to express yourself... reasonably!! (pun on the course name, anyone? no one? ok, me neither...)

Lana :)


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