| Years ago, presenting this example to a group of elementary and middle school children (without discussing rotations or reflections - just the decomposition), I convinced most of the students that only three rules were needed: the lower right and lower left fronds, and all the other fronds lumped into one piece. |
| Then a little fourth grader asked "What about the bottom of the stem?" |
| "It's just a single line. I'll draw it in by hand," I replied. |
| "But what about the little stem connecting each frond to the middle? Oh, and what about the even littler stems connecting the fronds of the fronds?" she asked. |
| She got the point, really got it, more quickly than anyone I've seen since. |
| I don't know where you are now, and I never learned your name. But I remember you. |
