Lastly, students were
asked to design their own
pure abstraction, keeping
in mind the idea of
asymmetrical balance.
We looked at these
finished products as a
group and discussed
whether they appeared
“balanced”.
Students thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of
this activity as it allowed for student
interaction, creativity, and the reinforcing of
important mathematical concepts. As a
teacher, I knew it was a success when
several weeks later, a student commented
when asked to graph y= -3, “Oh, this is like
those paintings we graphed. When it’s y
equals a number, it’s a horizontal line.”
Ellen Blashkovsky is an 8th grade
math/algebra teacher from
Jamesburg, NJ. She is a
member of the Rutgers GSE
STEAM Consortium, sponsored
by the Geraldine R. Dodge
Foundation.
STEAMed Magazine
41
April 2016 Edition