Geometry on a Canvas

By Sarah Alejandro

    

    I had the pleasure of participating in DISD’s STEM Day at Skyline High school on January 31st. Dallas Independent School District reserves one day out of the year for the community to explore and participate in STEM activities. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Teachers, College Professors, and other volunteers put on an hour long seminar to engage students with interesting and fun STEM activities. This day is to encourage students to take an interest in STEM.

     I worked with a partner to create an activity called, “Geometry on a Canvas” for middle school students using a weaving net, yarn, a needle, a variety of designs of different sizes. This activity was inspired by the style of weaving typically seen in Mexican culture. My partner and I chose this activity because we are familiar with this type of weaving since we are from a Hispanic background. Looking at different kinds of patterns, they are traditionally symmetrical designs. We decided that this would be an interesting activity to bring up the idea of 2D shapes without actually teaching about them. We also wanted to extend the activity a bit further by including 3D shapes so we came up with the idea of making a tissue box cover. We discovered some modern day patterns the students would be interested in making on Pinterest. This activity would encourage students to become mathematical engineers by constructing a tissue box cover while concentrating on making sure the designs they chose looked symmetrical.

     My goal for this activity was to give students the opportunity to use their knowledge of geometry and engineering to create a work of art. When I presented the activity to my group of students, I had them choose whichever design they wanted from the twenty different ones I had provided.  Once they got started, all they had to do was keep referring back to their design template to see how many squares they needed to sow before changing colors. While they were sewing, we discussed the different shapes and properties in their designs.

     One student had forgotten where she was on the template so I went over to help. This is when I noticed that I could use this as an opportunity to explain the idea of graphs. I explained to her that she could label the columns and rows so it would be easier for her to keep track of where she was.
 

     Overall, I am very happy at how well this activity went. I had fun and the students seemed to have fun too. However, if I were to do this activity again, I would make the designs bigger and label the columns and rows so they could see it more as a graph and be able to keep track of where they are. I might also make sure the designs I chose were smaller in size so they could finish within the time allotted and see their finished product.

  Although this activity was created for middle school students, I would suggest this activity for elementary teachers to use as well. This activity can be modified to meet the TEKS for an elementary geometry lesson. I have learned from past experience that "Students who have difficulty in the learning arena for reasons of ESL barriers, auditory deficiencies, or behavioral interference can be found to be on task more often because they are part of the learning process and not just spectators" (Haury and Rillero, 1994). It is not only hands on but it can be used to teach students about the different shapes they are making, which meet several kindergarten TEKS. It can be extended by having the students predict the amount of yarn needed to do one side of the shape in metric and customary length. Having them do this would meet TEKS in 3rd and 4th grade. If a 5th grade teacher wanted to do a lesson on coordinates, they could still use this activity. They could modify the graph so it showed coordinates and have students discover what the picture was. I would encourage teachers to use this activity

"Heart" picture taken from: http://ginghamred.com/knitting-string-words/
"Confucius" picture taken from: http://quoteimg.com/forget-i-see-and-i-remember-i-do-and-i-understand-picture-quote-1/
Haury, D., & Rillero, P. (1995). What are the benefits of hands- on learning? Perspectives of Hands-On Science Teaching. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/eric/eric-2.htm