




Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 09:22:23 -0300 (ADT)
From: Wayne Ko <wko@istar.ca>
Subject: Origami and Education

At work, I was asked to justify my Professional Development topic of origami
before I would be granted permission to pursue it.  The following is a draft
of the quick informal response I compiled to show the validity of why
origami is relevant to education and what use it had for the classroom.
Anyways,  even though it is a bit long, I thought it may be of interest to
the group.  I won't have time to incorporate any changes or additons as this
has to be sent off immediately (lucky I'm a math teacher and can get away
with a few grammatical errors) - nevertheless, I would appreciate any
comments and criticisms and perhaps include an addendum at a later date.

Wayne

_________________________________________

Education and Personal Value of Origami

Yes origami is fun and one of the reasons I have a personal interest in it
is because of this fun factor.  However, just because something is fun does
not mean that it has no educational or personal value.  In fact, origami has
so many facets that it can enrich all disciplines of learning.  Origami is
not just a childish pastime of making toys from paper.

Origami has a long history and is also a reflection of culture and ideals.
Many models have significance and meaning.  For example, the crane is a
symbol of peace.  The story of 12 year old Sadako Sasaki and her attempt to
fold 1000 cranes in the hopes of recovering from radiation sickness after
the atomic blast at Hiroshima puts a real face to the realities of war.  It
makes history more personal and raises moral issues that would make
excellent discussions for history and English.

When I was in elementary school, I remembered one event that made science a
major fascination in my life.  Our school actually had a paper airplane
contest - there were categories for longest flight, longest time in air etc.
Yes it was a lot of  fun and games but I remembered investing a lot of my
own personal time learning about lift and the shapes of airplane wings and
on and on.... I was actually motivated and inspired to try to produce the
best little plane in school.  By the way, I didn't win in any category, but
I won intellectually because I learned about flight in a real and meaningful
manner.  As a personal
note, this was not what started me in origami - my fascination started much
later in my life.

I've also taught folding to young children numerous times and have seem the
benefits that origami can offer.  It is not just arts and crafts!  There is
social interaction when children help each other.  They are refining and
developing their motor skills.  In addition, they are learning to follow
instructions and learning key concepts such as over, under, left, right
etc.  It is a fun learning experience and the joy obtained by the children
is more precious than the finished models.  This type of activity may also
lend itself to ESL students.

Many people smoke, drink coffee or socialize when they want a bit of a break
from work.  I pull out a piece of paper and start fiddling.  What does this
do for me?  First it is very relaxing and gets my mind thinking in a logical
mode.  One thing I find helpful is that folding forces me to visualize and
think in logical stages.  This in turn, helps me organize and visualize
concepts and ideas in the lesson that I bring into the classroom.  Origami
also exercises my memory, I know tons of (simpler) models from memory.
Also,  I usually cram a few of the more complex models requiring hundreds of
folds by Robert Lang, John Montroll etc. in short term memory as well.  When
I learn a model, I usually
try to see if I can reproduce it from memory also.  Exercising the memory is
agood way to increase is potential.

However, my main focus is mathematics and I will dwell a little longer in
this area.  First, there are the obvious geometrical connections such as
symmetry, angles, intersections and so on.  There are also other less
obvious conceptual connections as well;  I'll try to illustrate with a few
simple examples:

For example,  if you fold a paper in half once, the result will be two
rectangles when you open it back up  (2^1).   If you fold the paper in half
twice and open it up, you end up with 4 rectangles (2^2).  If you fold the
paper in half three times you get 8 rectangles (2^3) and so on.  We,
therefore, see a simple power of two relationship.  However, this also
produces an intuitive understanding of the concept that any non-zero base to
the power of zero is one! In our situation, it can be illustrated as how
many rectangles will you get if you do not fold the paper in half at all -
one rectangle or 2^0=1.

[The other examples are omitted since they require diagrams, or an actual
model.  The omitted examples include: some area type puzzles;  using the
special 1, 2 and square root of 3 triangle to fold a 60 degree angle; a
simple visualization of the Pythagorean Theorem; a simple box involving
calculating the volume and then generalizing the volume using algebra and
variables.]

In summary,  origami can be an extremely useful tool in education and
mathematics in particular.  In this time of budgetary restraint,  it is an
inexpensive way to brighten up and offer up an alternative to the pure
blackboard theory and notes approach to teaching and learning.  My only
major regret, is the lack of time to fully implement more of these items in
my normal classroom activities.  The Provincial Ministry requires a certain
core curriculum to be taught at each level within a fixed time frame and
there is very little room to do enrichment activities.  In our situation of
adult learning at the College, matters are even worse as students try to
finish a particular grade level in only four months to meet entrance
requirements for their respective fields of pursuit.  Nevertheless, as an
educator, I am compelled to explore and look at all possible avenues of
making math fun and meaningful.

In closing, I would like to quote the Postscript from Origami for the
Connoisseur by Kasahara and Takahama.  Although, it is more geared to
geometry, I think it is relevant to mathematics and origami in general as well:

[I've include it in this email as well since I notice that a lot of you are
not fortunate enough to possess a copy]

"Japanese atomic physicist Dr.  Kohji Fushimi, who participated in the
compilation of this book, is only one of the many people today who lament
the exclusion of the study called elementary geometry from the curricula of
schools in many of the industrialized nations of the world.  In this
practical age, when numbers take pride of place, a person's abilities are
frequently judged solely on the basis of correct or incorrect numerical
values entered on test papers.

Geometry cannot be limited in this way.  The time that a person spends in deep
concentration on the drawing of a single auxiliary line in a geometry
problem is filled with reward and pleasure, even though the process may be
so absorbing that the final solution of the problem is wrong.  I suspect
that all readers who have enjoyed the origami masterpieces introduced in
this book have, to an extent, tasted the joy experienced by the creators as
they used their fingertips to discover various forms.  No practical value is
to be derived from reproducing David Brill's bottle or the geometric forms
of Jun Maekawa and Kazuo Haga.  It may have taken two or three hours of hard
work to finish Peter Engel's Kangaroo or John Montroll's ground beetle, and
the results may have been neat or messy.
Nonetheless, if you had a good time doing it, you have shared the feelings
experienced by the originators of the folds.  [I personally feel that there
is much to be learned in the folding process, but that is another topic.]

If and when geometry is granted its former place in our system of education,
I am convinced that origami can be an important  material in its
instruction. But still more significant, I believe - and am confident the
other participants in the production of this book share my belief - that
increasing the number of people who take pleasure in origami can help us
return to our lives the sense of breadth and ease and the willingness to
learn by taking detours and by persisting in the process of trial and error
that society is now in danger of losing"





Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 14:21:20 -0300 (ADT)
From: John Tobiasson <tobi@centuryinter.net>
Subject: Re: Origami and Education

Wayne, I am Tobi and make a card with creases that will fold into
educational and fun quanta models.  I will send samples if you send me your
mailing address.   www.britestar.net/tobitoys.com

----------
> From: Wayne Ko <wko@istar.ca>
> To: Multiple recipients of list <origami-l@nstn.ca>
> Subject: Origami and Education
> Date: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 7:22 AM
>
> At work, I was asked to justify my Professional Development topic of
origami
> before I would be granted permission to pursue it.  The following is a
draft
> of the quick informal response I compiled to show the validity of why
> origami is relevant to education and what use it had for the classroom.
> Anyways,  even though it is a bit long, I thought it may be of interest
to
> the group.  I won't have time to incorporate any changes or additons as
this
> has to be sent off immediately (lucky I'm a math teacher and can get away
> with a few grammatical errors) - nevertheless, I would appreciate any
> comments and criticisms and perhaps include an addendum at a later date.
>
>
> Wayne
>
> _________________________________________
>
>
> Education and Personal Value of Origami
>
>
>
> Yes origami is fun and one of the reasons I have a personal interest in
it
> is because of this fun factor.  However, just because something is fun
does
> not mean that it has no educational or personal value.  In fact, origami
has
> so many facets that it can enrich all disciplines of learning.  Origami
is
> not just a childish pastime of making toys from paper.
>
> Origami has a long history and is also a reflection of culture and
ideals.
> Many models have significance and meaning.  For example, the crane is a
> symbol of peace.  The story of 12 year old Sadako Sasaki and her attempt
to
> fold 1000 cranes in the hopes of recovering from radiation sickness after
> the atomic blast at Hiroshima puts a real face to the realities of war.
It
> makes history more personal and raises moral issues that would make
> excellent discussions for history and English.
>
> When I was in elementary school, I remembered one event that made science
a
> major fascination in my life.  Our school actually had a paper airplane
> contest - there were categories for longest flight, longest time in air
etc.
> Yes it was a lot of  fun and games but I remembered investing a lot of my
> own personal time learning about lift and the shapes of airplane wings
and
> on and on.... I was actually motivated and inspired to try to produce the
> best little plane in school.  By the way, I didn't win in any category,
but
> I won intellectually because I learned about flight in a real and
meaningful
> manner.  As a personal
> note, this was not what started me in origami - my fascination started
much
> later in my life.
>
> I've also taught folding to young children numerous times and have seem
the
> benefits that origami can offer.  It is not just arts and crafts!  There
is
> social interaction when children help each other.  They are refining and
> developing their motor skills.  In addition, they are learning to follow
> instructions and learning key concepts such as over, under, left, right
> etc.  It is a fun learning experience and the joy obtained by the
children
> is more precious than the finished models.  This type of activity may
also
> lend itself to ESL students.
>
> Many people smoke, drink coffee or socialize when they want a bit of a
break
> from work.  I pull out a piece of paper and start fiddling.  What does
this
> do for me?  First it is very relaxing and gets my mind thinking in a
logical
> mode.  One thing I find helpful is that folding forces me to visualize
and
> think in logical stages.  This in turn, helps me organize and visualize
> concepts and ideas in the lesson that I bring into the classroom.
Origami
> also exercises my memory, I know tons of (simpler) models from memory.
> Also,  I usually cram a few of the more complex models requiring hundreds
of
> folds by Robert Lang, John Montroll etc. in short term memory as well.
When
> I learn a model, I usually
> try to see if I can reproduce it from memory also.  Exercising the memory
is
> agood way to increase is potential.
>
> However, my main focus is mathematics and I will dwell a little longer in
> this area.  First, there are the obvious geometrical connections such as
> symmetry, angles, intersections and so on.  There are also other less
> obvious conceptual connections as well;  I'll try to illustrate with a
few
> simple examples:
>
> For example,  if you fold a paper in half once, the result will be two
> rectangles when you open it back up  (2^1).   If you fold the paper in
half
> twice and open it up, you end up with 4 rectangles (2^2).  If you fold
the
> paper in half three times you get 8 rectangles (2^3) and so on.  We,
> therefore, see a simple power of two relationship.  However, this also
> produces an intuitive understanding of the concept that any non-zero base
to
> the power of zero is one! In our situation, it can be illustrated as how
> many rectangles will you get if you do not fold the paper in half at all
-
> one rectangle or 2^0=1.
>
> [The other examples are omitted since they require diagrams, or an actual
> model.  The omitted examples include: some area type puzzles;  using the
> special 1, 2 and square root of 3 triangle to fold a 60 degree angle; a
> simple visualization of the Pythagorean Theorem; a simple box involving
> calculating the volume and then generalizing the volume using algebra and
> variables.]
>
> In summary,  origami can be an extremely useful tool in education and
> mathematics in particular.  In this time of budgetary restraint,  it is
an
> inexpensive way to brighten up and offer up an alternative to the pure
> blackboard theory and notes approach to teaching and learning.  My only
> major regret, is the lack of time to fully implement more of these items
in
> my normal classroom activities.  The Provincial Ministry requires a
certain
> core curriculum to be taught at each level within a fixed time frame and
> there is very little room to do enrichment activities.  In our situation
of
> adult learning at the College, matters are even worse as students try to
> finish a particular grade level in only four months to meet entrance
> requirements for their respective fields of pursuit.  Nevertheless, as an
> educator, I am compelled to explore and look at all possible avenues of
> making math fun and meaningful.
>
> In closing, I would like to quote the Postscript from Origami for the
> Connoisseur by Kasahara and Takahama.  Although, it is more geared to
> geometry, I think it is relevant to mathematics and origami in general as
well:
>
> [I've include it in this email as well since I notice that a lot of you
are
> not fortunate enough to possess a copy]
>
> "Japanese atomic physicist Dr.  Kohji Fushimi, who participated in the
> compilation of this book, is only one of the many people today who lament
> the exclusion of the study called elementary geometry from the curricula
of
> schools in many of the industrialized nations of the world.  In this
> practical age, when numbers take pride of place, a person's abilities are
> frequently judged solely on the basis of correct or incorrect numerical
> values entered on test papers.
>
> Geometry cannot be limited in this way.  The time that a person spends in
deep
> concentration on the drawing of a single auxiliary line in a geometry
> problem is filled with reward and pleasure, even though the process may
be
> so absorbing that the final solution of the problem is wrong.  I suspect
> that all readers who have enjoyed the origami masterpieces introduced in
> this book have, to an extent, tasted the joy experienced by the creators
as
> they used their fingertips to discover various forms.  No practical value
is
> to be derived from reproducing David Brill's bottle or the geometric
forms
> of Jun Maekawa and Kazuo Haga.  It may have taken two or three hours of
hard
> work to finish Peter Engel's Kangaroo or John Montroll's ground beetle,
and
> the results may have been neat or messy.
> Nonetheless, if you had a good time doing it, you have shared the
feelings
> experienced by the originators of the folds.  [I personally feel that
there
> is much to be learned in the folding process, but that is another topic.]
>
> If and when geometry is granted its former place in our system of
education,
> I am convinced that origami can be an important  material in its
> instruction. But still more significant, I believe - and am confident the
> other participants in the production of this book share my belief - that
> increasing the number of people who take pleasure in origami can help us
> return to our lives the sense of breadth and ease and the willingness to
> learn by taking detours and by persisting in the process of trial and
error
> that society is now in danger of losing"





Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 14:26:36 -0300 (ADT)
From: burleigh@hackberry.chem.niu.edu (Darin Burleigh)
Subject: Origami Events

Hi,
 I'm putting together a list of Origami events to make my origami page:

http://hackberry.chem.niu.edu/HOME/dcb/dcb/ori.html

a little less lame. So far I've got: PCOC, an Exhibit
at Purdue, the First Siberian Conference (I don't think I'll
be able to show up, but maybe YOU will), and a Fesitval in
in Edmonton.

Anything else?

==========================================================
 - darin
 burleigh@hackberry.chem.niu.edu
 'write if you get work'





Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 18:37:06 -0300 (ADT)
From: Sy Chen <sychen@erols.com>
Subject: Tennis Elbow (Re:English Fuse Quilt book)

Dear Jane:

I passed your posted mail to my wife, a physical therapist. She does have
some suggestions. You condition is very serious. (according your
description) Is your "supposed not to do" doctor's order? Or your own
concern? There is a time span for doctor's order. You should start to fold
once the time span is over. Doing origami has little impact on your elbow.
You should be able to do a lot (not in long hours). Make sure rest your
elbow while you are folding. (Shh! Don't tell Yoshizawa-San!) Please
consult your doctor as well.

Good luck!

|------------------------------------------------------\
|  _   Shi-Yew Chen (a.k.a. Sy) <sychen@erols.com>     |\
| |_| Folding http://www.erols.com/sychen1/pprfld.html --\
|---------------------------------------------------------|

At 04:13 PM 9/12/97 -0300, Jane wrote:
>
>Anyway I have tennis elbow (lateral epicondilitis) and I'm not supposed
>to fold (or cook, play the recorder or do desktop publishing) for a
>while. I don't think origami quilts are the first folding I will do after
>I've recovered.
>
>Has anyone else had tennis elbow and lived to fold again?
>
>--Jane





Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 22:33:29 -0300 (ADT)
From: Mike & Janet Hamilton <Mikeinnj@concentric.net>
Subject: Re: Tennis Elbow (Re:English Fuse Quilt book)

Sy Chen wrote:
> You should start to fold
> once the time span is over. Doing origami has little impact on your elbow.

Tennis elbow has no direct connection to the elbow. It's actually an
inflammation of the attachment of the wrist and finger extensors near
the elbow. Resting the elbow is not the answer, it's avoiding repetitive
extension of the wrist and fingers.

I'm also a physical therapist. I would recommend the straps you can get
for tennis elbow. They help relieve the pull on the insertion of the
extensors, thereby giving them relief and allowing them to heal quicker.
Once healed, you should be able to fold as well as before, unless you
get this back from over-repetitious activities of long duration.

BTW, it's called tennis elbow because the first big cases were from
tennis players injuring themselves with strong backhands (forceful
extension of wrist).

Mike Hamilton  a.k.a Mr. Janet Hamilton
--
mailto:Mikeinnj@concentric.net
http://www.concentric.net/~Mikeinnj/





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 08:29:34 -0300 (ADT)
From: Valerie Vann <valerie_vann@compuserve.com>
Subject: Dragon Alert (new in archive)

At the request of Perry Bailey, I am uploading an
83K byte PDF file of diagrams for the origami-L
archive. It may be a day or so before Maarten van Gelder,
the archivist, clears the file and makes it available.

The file is:

firelizd.pdf   83Kbytes

The artist is Perry Bailey,  pbailey@mtayr.heartland.net,
and the model is an intermediate Dragon ("Fire Lizard").

The PDF file contains all 5 pages of the diagrams.

His software isn't set up yet to make Postscript (PS)
files, but we hope to have those later for those who
can't use PDF.

This is a marvelous highly addictive dragon ("Fire Lizard");
not only is it a great dragon with "real" dragon wings
(no birdie-type wings here), but is also has a wing
flapping mechanism.

I rate it intermediate as the head is a little tricky,
there is a sink, and a few sort of judgement folds,
but the result is no two alike and I can't stop making
them. I've tinkered and made variations on Perry's
super design, and may do a class at PCOC if there's
interest. This model positively inspires variations,
it's great fun!

There's a photo of some of my tinkering versions at:

http://people.delphi.com/vvann/firelizd.html

Valerie Vann
75070.304@compuserve.com
Valerie_Vann@compuserve.com)





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 08:30:30 -0300 (ADT)
From: Primad@sprynet.com (Donna H.)
Subject: Re: Another home for origami on the net

Hi there all:

I'm fairly new to Origami, just started folding a few months ago, but
I'm having a wonderful time and I'm learning quickly.

A friend, who introduced me to this lovely art form, has an IRC
channel on DalNet called: #Fold With Friends. Any and all folders are
welcome to visit.  Actually we wish some would since it's usually just
the two of us in there. <g>

>IRC is a good idea for the Internet savvy but a terrible idea for newbies,
>children, and the faint at heart ;)

To put any newbies at ease, be assured that we keep a very tight rein
on the channel and won't allow harassments of any sort.

Thanks for listening...

Donna Hanson
Long Island, NY





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 08:30:53 -0300 (ADT)
From: Amy Huang <ahuang@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca>
Subject: Golf clubs

Hello!

        This is an unusual request, but is there a fold out there for a set
of golf clubs/golf bag? If there is, please let me know. Thanks.

        Amy
        Join the Ring of Origami Art - http://www.angelfire.com/la/Lal





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 10:24:17 -0300 (ADT)
From: jaelle <jaelle1@swbell.net>
Subject: Re: Another home for origami on the net

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------8BBE32CD24115DC9C7C44E08

Donna H. wrote:

> Hi there all:
>
> I'm fairly new to Origami, just started folding
> a few months ago, but
> I'm having a wonderful time and I'm learning
> quickly.
>
> A friend, who introduced me to this lovely art
> form, has an IRC
> channel on DalNet called: #Fold With Friends.
> Any and all folders are
> welcome to visit.  Actually we wish some would
> since it's usually just
> the two of us in there. <g>
>
> >IRC is a good idea for the Internet savvy but a
> terrible idea for newbies,
> >children, and the faint at heart ;)
>
> To put any newbies at ease, be assured that we
> keep a very tight rein
> on the channel and won't allow harassments of
> any sort.
>
> Thanks for listening...
>
> Donna Hanson
> Long Island, NY

   I tried going to IRC #Fold With Friends. Irc
does not allow spaces on the channel name. Is the
name #Fold  or #FoldWithFriends or
#Fold_With_Friends or #Fold-With-Friends Etc etc.
Irc is also case sensitve btw. On channel names at
least.
Thank you .... looking foward to meeting with you
there.
Gail

--------------8BBE32CD24115DC9C7C44E08

begin:          vcard
fn:             Gail Armstrong
n:              Armstrong;Gail
org:            CatsPaw Leather and Catspaw Computer Consultants
adr:            6003 Abrams Road #1063;;;Dallas;Tx;75231;USA
email;internet: jaelle1@swbell.net
title:          Owner
tel;work:       214 - 750 - 8602
tel;fax:        214 - 750 - 8943
end:            vcard

--------------8BBE32CD24115DC9C7C44E08--





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 10:53:48 -0300 (ADT)
From: ladyada@tiac.net (joyce saler)
Subject: Re: Origami and Education

Wayne:
Thank  you for these personal and professional arguments for the practise
of Origami.  I find that the general public thinks of Origami in terms of
the paper airplanes, fortune tellers, and cootie catchers which they made
as children, period. We are the evangelists who hope to expand their
consciousness  gently.

I would add to your cogent presentation that Origami also can be thought of
as an enrichment activity for pre-computer literacy. This is especially
important in Third World cultures and poorer economic regions in which
computers and technology in general are not available to children.

Origami encouragesthe development of directionality  as you indicated-
up/down, left/right orientation. By demonstrating a model and discussing
the four sides of a figure, be it rectangle or square, children become used
to observing a total area and the information contained  from the corners
inward. This is the paradigm of viewing the computer screen which we
observe from a bird's eye view, so to speak. To work successfully within
the  graphic interface, we gather information from all areas of the screen-
sides, top, bottom and center. Children who are introduced early to
computers are developing those perceptual capacities for taking in
information from a multi-directional point of view. Children who are
limited to left/right two dimensional learning tools miss this
developmental advantage. Using Origami as an enrichment tool in early
childhood education can maintain a developmental equilibrium so that when,
and if, such children are introduced to technology, they will not be at a
total disadvantage.

Joyce Saler





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 16:01:50 -0300 (ADT)
From: Daniel Say <say@sfu.ca>
Subject: New book announcements (October 1997) [ENGLISH]

Subject: Books whose keywords include "origami"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Fantastic Folds : Origami Projects" by
Andrew Stoker, Sasha Williamson, Michael Newton

List: $16.95 --

Subjects: Origami; CRAFTS/HOBBIES

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Binding: Paperback
Expected publication date: October 1997
ISBN: 0312170955
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Rainbow Patterned Origami Paper" by Dover

List: $4.50 --

Subjects: Crafts/Hobbies; Origami

Publisher: Dover Pubns
*NR Edition
Binding: Paperback
Expected publication date: October 1, 1997
ISBN: 0486298647





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 16:26:37 -0300 (ADT)
From: Nick Robinson <nick@cheesypeas.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Origami Events

Darin Burleigh <burleigh@hackberry.chem.niu.edu> sez

> I'm putting together a list of Origami events to make my origami page:

Details of small & large meetings in England are on the BOS web-site...

all the best,

Nick Robinson

email           nick@cheesypeas.demon.co.uk
homepage        http://www.cheesypeas.demon.co.uk - all new look!
BOS homepage    http://www.rpmrecords.co.uk/bos/
RPM homepage    http://www.rpmrecords.co.uk - now with RealAudio clips!





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 16:45:09 -0300 (ADT)
From: Daddy-o D'gou <dwp+@transarc.com>
Subject: Perry Bailey's models on the web!

So, I'm impatient.

I did an alpha vista search and found a page with a bunch of Perry
Baileys models in GIF format:

    Start from:
            http://hem.passagen.se/dion

including a gryphon, water dragon, and white faced dragon which all
seem similar to the photos on Valerie's page.

Thanks Valerie, for prompting me to look for moe of Perry's models!
The "Odd Duck" is quite cute too.

I've had some "network" problems getting through, so keep trying if you
get rejected by Netscape/lynx/whatever (I've been getting intermittent
problems)...

Of course I don't know if any of those are the same as the one Valerie
posted about cause I haven't seen that one yet...

-D'gou
(Submitted on 9/18/97 at 1548 Eastern US time)





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 18:27:42 -0300 (ADT)
From: Primad@sprynet.com (Donna H.)
Subject: Re: Another home for origami on the net

On Thu, 18 Sep 1997 10:24:41 -0300 (ADT), you wrote:

>   I tried going to IRC #Fold With Friends. Irc
>does not allow spaces on the channel name. Is the
>name #Fold  or #FoldWithFriends or
>#Fold_With_Friends or #Fold-With-Friends Etc etc.
>Irc is also case sensitve btw. On channel names at
>least.
>Thank you .... looking foward to meeting with you
>there.
>Gail

Oops, in the excitement of submitting my first post to this list, I
made a boo boo.  As Gail points out, IRC does not allow spaces on the
channel name.  The correct name is #FoldWithFriends.  We are usually
there at Midnight ET.  However, anyone wishing to use the channel at
any other hour is more than welcome to do so.  In order to ensure that
the integrity of the channel remains intact, we will AOP (Automatic
Operator status) anyone interested, so that they have a modicum of
control over the channel in our absence.  Just drop me an e-mail and
I'll add you to the AOP list.

Sorry for not getting it right the first time :)

Donna H.





Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 20:15:43 -0300 (ADT)
From: Valerie Vann <valerie_vann@compuserve.com>
Subject: Perry Bailey's models on the web!

The Flapping Wing Fire Lizard dragon is
a new/improved model. Perry just completed
the diagrams, and I was test driving them
for a month or two. He sent them to me also
to combine into a single PDF and upload to
the archive.

Incidentally, the archive incoming directory
appeared to be closed when I attempted to upload,
so I resorted to sending the file direct to
M.Van Gelder instead. Maarten may be away,
and there's been hacker trouble in the past
with the incoming directory, so that may be
what's going on. Either way it may be a few
days before the file surfaces in the archive.

If its OK with Perry, I can stick it on my web
site with the photo until the archive copy appears,
then change to a link.

--valerie





Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 00:50:32 -0300 (ADT)
From: Ed Franklin <oldbooks@usit.net>
Subject: Paul Jackson book wanted

>
>I am interested in purchasing a copy of Paul Jackson's book FLEXAGONS.
This is the British Origami Society's Booklet Number 11.
>
>I have a friend, a retired MD, who is in his nineties and suspects he might
not have time to wait for this to be reprinted.
>
>If anyone can spare a copy--even a photocopy would be helpful--please let
me know by e-mail to:
>
>oldbooks@usit.net
>
>Please quote a price including postage costs to Tennessee by first class mail.
>
>I'll respond to all e-mail regarding this.
>
>I feel that it's incumbent upon me to state that I am a book dealer by
profession but that this particular transaction is NOT commercial and that I
do not intend to make any profit by obtaining a copy of this book.
>I am doing it as a favor for a friend who does not operate in the
cyber-theatre.
>
>Thank you all for your assistance.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Ed Franklin





Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 01:04:21 -0300 (ADT)
From: Valerie Vann <valerie_vann@compuserve.com>
Subject: Perry Bailey's models on the web!

OK dragon fans, Perry's
Fire Lizard is up on my web site,
at the same URL as the photo:

http://people.delphi.com/vvann/firelizd.html

We can't have a bunch of folders sitting aroung
going through withdrawal...

--valerie





Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 09:21:57 -0300 (ADT)
From: Carlos Alberto Furuti <furuti@ahand.unicamp.br>
Subject: Re: Golf clubs

Hi, Amy

You can check OrigamiUSA's Annual Collection '90, with models by
Louise Cooper, rated Intermediate: a golf club from an 1x3 rectangle,
and a bag from an 1x4, seven steps each with a lot of pleating.

        Carlos
        furuti@ahand.unicamp.br www.ahand.unicamp.br/~furuti





Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 10:18:18 -0300 (ADT)
From: Jose Tomas Buitrago <buitrago@maxwell.univalle.edu.co>
Subject: Colombian asociation web page

Hi.
I updated the web page with photos of the convention 97 (all the photos
belong to me). The url's are:
The main page: http://maxwell.univalle.edu.co/~buitrago/asociacion.html
the convention photos:
http://maxwell.univalle.edu.co/~buitrago/fotosconv.html

I'm waiting for your comments and suggestions.

Good Luck!
Jose Tomas





Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 16:29:01 -0300 (ADT)
From: Matthias Gutfeldt <Tanjit@bboxbbs.ch>
Subject: Re: Another home for origami on the net

Jerry D. Harris wrote:
>         How many of you would be interested in a place on the Internet for
> _live_ origami chats and discussions?  I am referring here to IRC --
> Internet Relay Chat.

I am not at all opposed to the idea of an Origami channel,
but- what are we going to discuss? Unless there is someone
dreaming up interesting subjects (like- "Today Live on IRC:
Diaper Folding Before and After"), this will turn into yet another
special-interest-group social chit-chat place. Just like
origami-l sometimes ;-).

Matthias, chit-chatting away





Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 16:45:18 -0300 (ADT)
From: Matthias Gutfeldt <Tanjit@bboxbbs.ch>
Subject: The Japanese Paper Place

Didn't want to dig the archives for it, so maybe this has been
mentioned before: "The Japanese Paper Place", a source for Origami
paper and books in Toronto, has a web presence at
http://www.interlog.com/~washi/default.htm

Matthias, surfing...





Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 16:59:34 -0300 (ADT)
From: Matthias Gutfeldt <Tanjit@bboxbbs.ch>
Subject: Re: Origami and Education

joyce saler wrote:
> I find that the general public thinks of Origami in terms of
> the paper airplanes (snip) which they made as children, period. We are the
> evangelists who hope to expand their consciousness  gently.

                 ...by throwing wonderful origami airplanes at them ;-).

Matthias, still a growing child (just not in the same direction)





Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 19:43:01 -0300 (ADT)
From: reeds@openix.com (Reeds family)
Subject: Re: Origami and Education

Wayne--One thing I'd add to this wonderful statement:

Origami allows you to observe individual students' understanding of e.g.
symmetries, 3-D relationships, order of operations, as well as their
ability to decode diagrams and detect ambiguity in language. Because the
context is informal and non-threatening (God forbid anyone should be graded
on their folding!), students feel freer to express just where their
frustration with a step lies. You then can use your observations to help
them more effectively in the formal math. (Feel free to lift any of this
without attribution!)

Your example about powers of numbers (especially x to the 0th power=1) is
lovely. How lucky your students are!

Karen
reeds@openix.com

>At work, I was asked to justify my Professional Development topic of origami
>before I would be granted permission to pursue it.  The following is a draft
>of the quick informal response I compiled to show the validity of why
>origami is relevant to education and what use it had for the classroom.
>Anyways,  even though it is a bit long, I thought it may be of interest to
>the group.  I won't have time to incorporate any changes or additons as this
>has to be sent off immediately (lucky I'm a math teacher and can get away
>with a few grammatical errors) - nevertheless, I would appreciate any
>comments and criticisms and perhaps include an addendum at a later date.
>
>
>Wayne
>
>_________________________________________
>
>
>Education and Personal Value of Origami
>
>
>
>Yes origami is fun and one of the reasons I have a personal interest in it
>is because of this fun factor.  However, just because something is fun does
>not mean that it has no educational or personal value.  In fact, origami has
>so many facets that it can enrich all disciplines of learning.  Origami is
>not just a childish pastime of making toys from paper.
>
>Origami has a long history and is also a reflection of culture and ideals.
>Many models have significance and meaning.  For example, the crane is a
>symbol of peace.  The story of 12 year old Sadako Sasaki and her attempt to
>fold 1000 cranes in the hopes of recovering from radiation sickness after
>the atomic blast at Hiroshima puts a real face to the realities of war.  It
>makes history more personal and raises moral issues that would make
>excellent discussions for history and English.
>
>When I was in elementary school, I remembered one event that made science a
>major fascination in my life.  Our school actually had a paper airplane
>contest - there were categories for longest flight, longest time in air etc.
>Yes it was a lot of  fun and games but I remembered investing a lot of my
>own personal time learning about lift and the shapes of airplane wings and
>on and on.... I was actually motivated and inspired to try to produce the
>best little plane in school.  By the way, I didn't win in any category, but
>I won intellectually because I learned about flight in a real and meaningful
>manner.  As a personal
>note, this was not what started me in origami - my fascination started much
>later in my life.
>
>I've also taught folding to young children numerous times and have seem the
>benefits that origami can offer.  It is not just arts and crafts!  There is
>social interaction when children help each other.  They are refining and
>developing their motor skills.  In addition, they are learning to follow
>instructions and learning key concepts such as over, under, left, right
>etc.  It is a fun learning experience and the joy obtained by the children
>is more precious than the finished models.  This type of activity may also
>lend itself to ESL students.
>
>Many people smoke, drink coffee or socialize when they want a bit of a break
>from work.  I pull out a piece of paper and start fiddling.  What does this
>do for me?  First it is very relaxing and gets my mind thinking in a logical
>mode.  One thing I find helpful is that folding forces me to visualize and
>think in logical stages.  This in turn, helps me organize and visualize
>concepts and ideas in the lesson that I bring into the classroom.  Origami
>also exercises my memory, I know tons of (simpler) models from memory.
>Also,  I usually cram a few of the more complex models requiring hundreds of
>folds by Robert Lang, John Montroll etc. in short term memory as well.  When
>I learn a model, I usually
>try to see if I can reproduce it from memory also.  Exercising the memory is
>agood way to increase is potential.
>
>However, my main focus is mathematics and I will dwell a little longer in
>this area.  First, there are the obvious geometrical connections such as
>symmetry, angles, intersections and so on.  There are also other less
>obvious conceptual connections as well;  I'll try to illustrate with a few
>simple examples:
>
>For example,  if you fold a paper in half once, the result will be two
>rectangles when you open it back up  (2^1).   If you fold the paper in half
>twice and open it up, you end up with 4 rectangles (2^2).  If you fold the
>paper in half three times you get 8 rectangles (2^3) and so on.  We,
>therefore, see a simple power of two relationship.  However, this also
>produces an intuitive understanding of the concept that any non-zero base to
>the power of zero is one! In our situation, it can be illustrated as how
>many rectangles will you get if you do not fold the paper in half at all -
>one rectangle or 2^0=1.
>
>[The other examples are omitted since they require diagrams, or an actual
>model.  The omitted examples include: some area type puzzles;  using the
>special 1, 2 and square root of 3 triangle to fold a 60 degree angle; a
>simple visualization of the Pythagorean Theorem; a simple box involving
>calculating the volume and then generalizing the volume using algebra and
>variables.]
>
>In summary,  origami can be an extremely useful tool in education and
>mathematics in particular.  In this time of budgetary restraint,  it is an
>inexpensive way to brighten up and offer up an alternative to the pure
>blackboard theory and notes approach to teaching and learning.  My only
>major regret, is the lack of time to fully implement more of these items in
>my normal classroom activities.  The Provincial Ministry requires a certain
>core curriculum to be taught at each level within a fixed time frame and
>there is very little room to do enrichment activities.  In our situation of
>adult learning at the College, matters are even worse as students try to
>finish a particular grade level in only four months to meet entrance
>requirements for their respective fields of pursuit.  Nevertheless, as an
>educator, I am compelled to explore and look at all possible avenues of
>making math fun and meaningful.
>
>In closing, I would like to quote the Postscript from Origami for the
>Connoisseur by Kasahara and Takahama.  Although, it is more geared to
>geometry, I think it is relevant to mathematics and origami in general as well:
>
>[I've include it in this email as well since I notice that a lot of you are
>not fortunate enough to possess a copy]
>
>"Japanese atomic physicist Dr.  Kohji Fushimi, who participated in the
>compilation of this book, is only one of the many people today who lament
>the exclusion of the study called elementary geometry from the curricula of
>schools in many of the industrialized nations of the world.  In this
>practical age, when numbers take pride of place, a person's abilities are
>frequently judged solely on the basis of correct or incorrect numerical
>values entered on test papers.
>
>Geometry cannot be limited in this way.  The time that a person spends in deep
>concentration on the drawing of a single auxiliary line in a geometry
>problem is filled with reward and pleasure, even though the process may be
>so absorbing that the final solution of the problem is wrong.  I suspect
>that all readers who have enjoyed the origami masterpieces introduced in
>this book have, to an extent, tasted the joy experienced by the creators as
>they used their fingertips to discover various forms.  No practical value is
>to be derived from reproducing David Brill's bottle or the geometric forms
>of Jun Maekawa and Kazuo Haga.  It may have taken two or three hours of hard
>work to finish Peter Engel's Kangaroo or John Montroll's ground beetle, and
>the results may have been neat or messy.
>Nonetheless, if you had a good time doing it, you have shared the feelings
>experienced by the originators of the folds.  [I personally feel that there
>is much to be learned in the folding process, but that is another topic.]
>
>If and when geometry is granted its former place in our system of education,
>I am convinced that origami can be an important  material in its
>instruction. But still more significant, I believe - and am confident the
>other participants in the production of this book share my belief - that
>increasing the number of people who take pleasure in origami can help us
>return to our lives the sense of breadth and ease and the willingness to
>learn by taking detours and by persisting in the process of trial and error
>that society is now in danger of losing"





Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 22:05:43 -0300 (ADT)
From: Unafolder@aol.com
Subject: the truth about Montroll

Greetings members of Origami-L.  I bring serious and liberating news:

The Montroll has been exposed.

The first public sightings of the true John Montroll are now available online
at:

http://members.aol.com/unafolder

I'm putting myself in danger by offering this to the public, but the truth
must be known!

The Unafolder has spoken





Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 03:24:53 -0300 (ADT)
From: skirsch@t-online.de (Sebastian Marius Kirsch)
Subject: Re: BOS Convention

On Mon, 15 Sep 1997, Nick Robinson wrote:
> Enclosed a graphic - if we make this into a badge we can say hello!

Very nice -- but wouldn't you prefer to have the right address on it?

Have fun at the Convention!

Yours, Sebastian                                          skirsch@t-online.de
                           /or/ sebastian_kirsch@kl.maus.de (no mail > 16KB!)





Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 07:43:20 -0300 (ADT)
From: Mr & Mrs Owen <djowen@pcl.net>
Subject: Re: The Japanese Paper Place

Thanks.  I'm still new so I didn't know about this one.
Joyce Owen
mother of the folder
(who always needs place to buy paper)





Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 14:33:55 -0300 (ADT)
From: Cathy Palmer-Lister <cathypl@generation.net>
Subject: Re: Perry Bailey's models on the web!

Thanks, Valerie, I had already downloaded it, though I have yet to try
reading it.

                Cathy, dragon fan

At 01:04 AM 1997-09-19 -0300, you wrote:
>OK dragon fans, Perry's
>Fire Lizard is up on my web site,
>at the same URL as the photo:
>
>http://people.delphi.com/vvann/firelizd.html
>
>We can't have a bunch of folders sitting aroung
>going through withdrawal...
>
>--valerie
>

****************************
Cathy Palmer-Lister
Ste. Julie, Quebec
Canada





Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 02:18:04 -0300 (ADT)
From: Unafolder@aol.com
Subject: More news

Secret sounds have recently come my way.  Check out the page for details!

http://members.aol.com/unafolder

UNAFOLDER





Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 03:37:05 -0300 (ADT)
From: Amy Huang <ahuang@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca>
Subject: Re: Golf clubs

Hi Carlos!

At 09:21 AM 9/19/97 -0300, you wrote:
>Hi, Amy
>
>You can check OrigamiUSA's Annual Collection '90, with models by
>Louise Cooper, rated Intermediate: a golf club from an 1x3 rectangle,
>and a bag from an 1x4, seven steps each with a lot of pleating.
>
>       Carlos
>       furuti@ahand.unicamp.br www.ahand.unicamp.br/~furuti

        Thanks for your input! I truly appreciate it. I will try to get a
hold of it:)

        Thanks again,
        Amy

||~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~||
||     ____                                                  ||
||    ||||||                                                 ||
||    ||||||             Amy Huang                           ||
||   /      \            Email: ahuang@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca   ||
||  |        |           URL: http://www.ualberta.ca/~ahuang ||

||  |--------|    ___                          ||
||  |        |   |||||    University of Alberta               ||
||  |  |)    |   |||||   Faculty of Pharmacy                 ||
||  |  |\/   |  /     \                                      ||
||  |   /\   |  |     |  Edmonton, Alberta, Canada           ||





Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 13:08:47 -0300 (ADT)
From: Master OfYourDesire <mofyourdesire@hotmail.com>
Subject:

hi:

My name is chip hogan and I am looking for any information i can get on
origami boxes.  They fascinate me.  I am looking for books and folding
diagrams. I own two books of Tomoko Fuse and am desperate for more.
Desperate for anything related to this subject and would love to e-mail
anyone interested in box or unit origami. Please don't be shy and get in
touch with me. I will reply to any and all.  Thank You.
Your friend in origami,

                         chip

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com





Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 21:29:20 -0300 (ADT)
From: jeffry kerwood <jkjeff@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Another home for origami on the net

From: (Jerry D. Harris
> How many of you would be interested in a place on the Internet for
>_live_ origami chats and discussions?  I am referring here to IRC --
>Internet Relay Chat.

I WOULD !!! Terrific idea. I agree that for it to succeed we would
likely need to have scheduled discussions on specific topics (or
specifically scheduled open discussion times) or scheduled "celebrity"
times.

Its funny that you should choose now to mention this cause although I
don't have the expertise to do this I do have a computer background and
today on my 8 hour drive home from vacation was contemplating trying to
do exactly this.  Two things I thought would be good touches were:
     1) the ability to post (send) the chat to the origami-l listserver
so that everyone could benefit from it and so that it could be archived.
It would have a subject of (CHAT) so people would know its origins
before opening it.
    2) the ability for the "host" (or someone) to edit the "chat" before
it is sent to origami-l so that extraneous chatter could be removed and
salient subjects clearly summarized (it would of course have a note at
the top saying that so and so edited the dialogue) The editor person
would also have to be able to save the dialogue should s/he need to
postpone editing for the future.

Jeff Kerwood (JKJEFF@HOTMAIL.COM)

______________________________________________________
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Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 22:41:58 -0300 (ADT)
From: jeffry kerwood <jkjeff@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Another home for origami on the net

>Matthias said:
>I am not at all opposed to the idea of an Origami channel,
>but- what are we going to discuss? Unless there is someone
>dreaming up interesting subjects (like- "Today Live on IRC:
>Diaper Folding Before and After"), this will turn into yet another
>special-interest-group social chit-chat place. Just like
>origami-l sometimes ;-).

Well I would propose using the origami-l family as the  fodder for
topics. If the original poster of this recent topic had instead said
"how about a chat at 12:AM ET about the history of paper sizes", I think
a lively and probative chat would of been had". It is up to the poster
to use judgement and request chats that would attract sufficient
chatterers. Some chat topic signup mechanism could be put in place so
that people don't sit around wondering how many chatters will show up.

Just my 2/5 nickels worth

Jeff Kerwood (JKJEFF@HOTMAIL.COM)

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com





Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 22:57:05 -0300 (ADT)
From: jeffry kerwood <jkjeff@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: paper cutting for quilts

>From origami-l@nstn.ca Thu Sep 11 08:28:40 1997
>Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1])
>       by Owl.nstn.ca (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id MAA22886;
>       Thu, 11 Sep 1997 12:19:36 -0300 (ADT)
>Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 12:19:36 -0300 (ADT)
>Message-Id: <32364237.28E1@bboxbbs.ch>
>Errors-To: listmgr@owl.nstn.ca
>Reply-To: origami-l@nstn.ca
>Originator: origami-l@nstn.ca
>Sender: origami-l@nstn.ca
>Precedence: none
>From: Matthias Gutfeldt <Tanjit@bboxbbs.ch>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <origami-l@nstn.ca>
>Subject: Re: paper cutting for quilts
>X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
>
>jeffry kerwood wrote about getting paper cut at a shop:
>> Thats exactly what I wanted to do. But I was making different quilts,
>> needing different kinds and sizes of papers. I did think of this, it
>> just didn't work out.
>
>
>There's another neat quilting tool my mother showed me
>a few days ago: A "ShortCut" mat, made out of clear PVC.
>It is 16x16inch and has parallel slits at 1/2 inch intervals.
>You can insert a rotary cutter into the slits and cut perfectly
>parallel strips at whatever interval you need, then rotate the
>mat 90 degrees, and repeat the process. Perfect squares, and lots
>of them :-). Of course, as with all cutting you have to work VERY
>precise.
>
>
>Matthias, precisely 1/2mm off mark...
>
>
>

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com





Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 23:01:34 -0300 (ADT)
From: jeffry kerwood <jkjeff@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: paper cutting for quilts

>From: Matthias Gutfeldt
>There's another neat quilting tool my mother showed me
>a few days ago: A "ShortCut" mat, made out of clear PVC.
>It is 16x16inch and has parallel slits at 1/2 inch intervals.
>You can insert a rotary cutter into the slits and cut perfectly
>parallel strips at whatever interval you need, then rotate the
>mat 90 degrees, and repeat the process. Perfect squares, and lots
>of them :-). Of course, as with all cutting you have to work VERY
>precise.

This sounds very interesting. Where can you get one of these ( do you
know of a catalogue) and about how much do they cost?

Thanks, Jeff Kerwood (JKJEFF@HOTMAIL.COM)

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com





Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 23:06:41 -0300 (ADT)
From: jeffry kerwood <jkjeff@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Quilts

>From: morpha
>Subject: Quilts

>This discussion of origami quilts intrigues me.  Does anyone have
photos
>of origami quilts on their web page?  If not, can anyone describe what
>one looks like?
>

They are very cool. An example would be 50, 4 pointed stars (with points
of various colors/textures etc) connected in a wonderful pattern (ok I
have just decided this can't be discribed - send me your snail address
and i'll send you a photo of some of mine (sorry i'm behind the times
and don't have a web page to post them on yet).

Jeff Kerwood (JKJEFF@HOTMAIL.COM)

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com





Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 23:15:05 -0300 (ADT)
From: jeffry kerwood <jkjeff@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Another home for origami on the net

>Michel Bartolone said " rec.arts.origami has passed!".

Well, that's a good thing - YES?  I am afraid I don't have any idea what
rec.arts.origami means (other than I guess it's a web site). What is
special about having a "rec.arts"?  (Personal comment: this net stuff is
driving me crazy. I worked with mainframes for 15 years and all of a
sudden I'm starting over again - AAAHHHHHHGGGGG. Sorry just had to say
that).

Jeff Kerwood (JKJEFF@HOTMAIL.COM)

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com





Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 02:34:08 -0300 (ADT)
From: RPlsmn@aol.com
Subject: Re: Another home for origami on the net

ok ... I'll chat about origami ... I think it's a shameful aspect of human
nature to look at an elegant design on a two dimensional plane extrapolating
itself into he third dimension as worth hardly more than the paper it was
folded out of.  It should be easier to get a few bucks for these little
labors of love
