The Fractal Dome is a workshop and dome experience specially designed for schools to support learning and development in maths, science and art. Dive into the magical world of fractals with us; we will guide you to a deeper understanding, and invite you to feel the thrill of patterns brought to you by an amazing immersive experience like no other!
"Fractal geometry is not just a chapter of mathematics, but one that helps every man to see the same world differently."
Benoit Mandelbrot
The father of fractal geometry
The Fractal Dome is a workshop and dome experience specially designed for schools, to support the learning and development in maths, science and art. With us, students of all ages enjoy the visual adventure of journeying into the infinitely complex world of fractals (endlessly repeating patterns made from simple algebraic equations).
Our fractal dome programme for schools consists of seven individual full-dome animations created by Dr. Jonathan Wolfe. We support educators with this powerful new tool for teaching maths and related sciences in our dome. A production of the Fractal Foundation which lasts approximately 24 minutes.
The Fractal Dome programme for schools takes place in a mobile dome with a 360 degree screen and also includes a workshop enabling pupils and students to interact with fractals, before the dome show. The dome comes to your school and can be set up in a hall or large drama studio. Fractals Dome will take your students on a tour of the fractals in nature and zoom through infinitely complex mathematical fractals.
Featuring original music, the spectacular award-winning full-dome planetarium show is both educational and highly entertaining, and suitable for audiences Year 3 and upwards.
While these fractal zooms are mathematical abstractions, audiences are always amazed when they get to recognize some patterns in nature. We will explore nature shapes such as trees, lightning, coastlines, insects, bacteria, seashells and much more. All of which can be found within a fractal zoom.
Each fractal tells the story of the processes that created it. Whether the erosion of a canyon, the evolution of a galaxy or the computation of an equation.
The most powerful lesson from this exploration is the Butterfly Effect. How small changes to a system can lead to dramatic changes in the outcome.
Bournemouth, Wimborne (Dorset), Brighton, Trowbridge, London, Leeds, and Newark in Nottinghamshire covering the whole of the UK and EIRE.
Contact us for further information and bookings on 01202304734, send us an email to sciencedome@ntlworld.com,
or alternatively click the bottom down below and fill in the form. We will get in touch with you soon after we receive your request.
Got a question? We’re here to help.
We cover all the UK and EIRE on request. In some ocassions a travel and/or hotel supplement might be applied if we are required to travel a distance from a base.
Get in touch and we will give you a free quote.
The Science Dome operates eleven mobile digital domes . The dimensions of these domes go from 5-8 meters diameter and 3-5 meters height. Being able to provide different sizes and designs to fit all school and village halls.
For the “wow” factor of a large immersive display environment to entertain large numbers of viewers at a show (or other such venue) our immersive 8m diameter domes would be the ideal match. Being 5.2 metres high, this dome offers a large feature in any show.
Our domes provide different sizes and designs to cater to your needs. Their capacity rank from 25-50 adults till 35-60 primary children in a session.
Get in touch, we will give you a precise feedback according to the type of audience or students' age to help with the organisation.
Of course you can.
Get in touch and we will help you organise the sessions.
Check out our other domes: Dinosaur Dome, Space Dome and Bio Dome to explore deeper all the different topics we can cover.
For Schools Service:
Full day visit cost ranges £530 (excluding VAT) with a typical day including up to five class shows.
Half day costs for three shows is £430.
We may charge extra for a sixth show during the day. If your school is located near one of our dome bases (see below), then we may be able to come for a half day. Please apply for half day rates if the case.
Please be aware that we charge a travel and hotel supplement if we are required to travel a distance from a base.
For Youth Clubs, Scout Groups and Adults Groups:
Prices start from £175 per session (an hour). Please contact us and will give you a totally free quote according to the type of service you require.
For Outdoor Events:
The cost for a smaller 25 person size dome (30 with children) is £750 per day, plus VAT and travel costs.
The cost for the giant dome version 40 person dome (45 with children) is £950 per day, plus VAT and travel costs.
Please be aware that the cost reflects a two-man operation.
Both domes come with limited soft benches (seating 10 to 15), with cushions for the remaining space.
If cost is a problem and you are a school fair organiser, for schools fairs we may be able to earn an income for the school by a modest audience charge, with our spilt fees facility. No charge (as above) for booking but we charge the public on entrance and spilt the fees. Only available for schools to support in south of England, Hants and Dorset, travel and hire cost apply to rest of UK.
A fractal is a never ending pattern that repeat itself at different scales. This property is called "self-similarity". Although Fractals are very complex, they are made by repeating a simple process. Here's the beauty of simplicity leading to complexity.
Fractals are everywhere around us. We find them in nature, maths, art, architecture, and even DNA.
There are 3 main types of fractals:
Each of these types provide the foundation of the different fractals that we can see around us.
From tiny patterns like sheashells up to the enormes spirals of the galaxies, fractals can be found everywhere in nature.
Some of the most commons examples of fractals in nature include:
Tree branches, snowflakes, lightning and electricity, plants and leaves, flowers, geographic terrain such as mountains and coastlines, river systems, clouds, and crystals.
Nature has used frractals as its structural pilar for hundreds of million of years but nowadays engineering and medicine have been inspired by them and use them to provide amazing advantages in their field.
Some examples where fractals have been applied are:
Computer chip circuit, fractals antennas for cellphones and other devices, fractals analysis in medicine (especially useful for cancer study), DNA study and use, etc.
Other fields like art and architecture have also benefited from applying fractals structure into their creation. The Eiffel Tower provides a perfect example of the practical implications of fractal architecture. If, instead of its spidery construction, the tower had been designed as a solid pyramid, it would have consumed a large amount of iron, without much added strength.
According to Benoit Mandelbrot (the father of fractal geometry) with fractal shapes, the length can be infinitely long. At the high level you might measure miles of coastline in a straight line, but as the ruler is smaller and smaller each rocky outcropping and nook adds length. By using smaller and smaller rulers, the person measuring gets a more accurate yet ever increasing measurement.
Before the development of Fractal Theory, we could already see examples of fractal geometry in architecture. For example, Hindu temples in India are a great example: a tower surrounded by smaller towers, surrounded by still smaller towers, and so on, for eight or more levels.
But fractals can be also found in Roman, Egyptian, Aztec, Incan and Mayan works.
For example the Corinthian column is an example of fractal-like object.
In the video game graphics industry, fractals have become practically indispensable helping developers to recreate the most complex sceneries with very little difficulty, and high level of detail, image quality and rendering speed.
Fractals can be also used in musical compositions. Back in time Pythagoras already revealed mathematical relationships in music but more recently, some musicians have started to explore fractals deeper, expressing wave forms through changes of air density over time and opening the door to a new world of creativity in the field.
To learn more about fractals visit the Fractal Foundation website
http://fractalfoundation.org/ or our website http://www.fractaldome.co.uk/
We Transform Learning Science Into Immersive Journeys
We want to know your needs exactly so that we can provide the perfect solution. Let us know what you want and we’ll do our best to help.