“One important reason to study geometry is that it promotes the ability to visualize and mentally manipulate objects in space. This is a necessary skill for many professions.”1
Introduction
How do we teach our students to measure perimeter, area, and volume and then how do we teach them to actually USE them in real life outside of the math classroom? We must “learn to transfer learning and perform well in challenging situations, and that requires strategy- particularly in the face of obstacles and uncertainty”.2 In art, mathematics and the knowledge of measurement quite often come into play and students are at a disadvantage when they don’t know how to apply what they have learned in math books. It is the rare occasion that half (or even 1/4th) of the class knows how to use a ruler other than to draw a straight line (which is also sometimes a challenge). If I ask my students in 7th and 8th grade art to fold a paper into quarters, it is likely a few will know what to do and many more will catch on quickly enough. If I ask them to fold the paper in half and measure out two inches from the center line...it will take a while longer. Asking students how big of a piece of paper they want by length and width measured in inches has also been an issue because the students don't always think solidly about the numbers. I do a bit of math tutoring on the side and many students have issues with perimeter, area, and volume because they don't understand how the concepts relate to each other and they don’t know their real-world applications. I often hear, “I’m never going to use this in my life, so why do I have to learn it?” Even as an art teacher, I tell my students that I use math all the time and most people either use it without realizing they are because they understand it so well, or they don’t use it because they don’t know how.
Overall, in this unit I plan to have my students engage in a hands-on math experience that integrates creative ideas that are normally minimal in a typical math class setting. I want students to understand that this is not a math lesson in art class, but an art lesson that involves math. Our biggest hurdle is to make sure that all students understand the math behind the lesson to be able to finish the final project properly. The hope is that students will feel empowered by the lesson well enough to be able to face harder problems in math class and feel comfortable with inherent learning risks in any classroom setting.
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