Math
Collages
In this activity students
consider their attitudes and thoughts about mathematics, the role
that math plays in their lives, or how they might use numeric
data to describe themselves and their families. They then cut
out numbers, symbols, or other text or graphics from newspapers,
magazines or other publications. After arranging and pasting these
figures onto a piece of paper or cardboard to create a collage,
the students write about their work in a paragraph entitled: "What
Mathematics Means to Me."
Many participating
classes sent collages that included pictures of clocks, money,
people, geometrical shapes, architecture, food products; and students
wrote about how much we all rely on math everyday in our interaction
with the world.
The teachers noticed
that this activity often led to exploratory discussions and new
discoveries about math on the part of the students. Teachers Enid
Figueroa and Melin Martinez both remarked that students tended
to cut out pictures of things they liked without necessarily thinking
about how they are related to math. Enid told the story of one
student who cut out a picture of a beach in Puerto Rico. "But
what relation is there between math and the beach?", her
classmates challenged. The student thought for a moment, then
held the picture up and explained that at the beach you need math
to measure the height of the waves, the force with which they
hit the reef, and the speed and direction of the wind. Another
student raised his hand and commented, "Math really is everywhere
in our lives!"
Melin explained how her 3rd and 4th graders cut many pretty pictures
from magazines but initially weren't sure what to say about these.
But the exercise really made them think, and when they had to
write captions to a picture of a car, they said things like you
need math to know how much the car costs or to estimate the speed
the car was going. One student said he couldn't find any pictures.
When Melin pointed to a picture of a clock, at first he didn't
see the connection, but later said: "Oh I see, you need math
to read the numbers and to know the meaning of where the big hand
and small hand are."
The two examples of
collages on this page are from students at Centro Escolar Morelos
in Mexico. The example above is one of the many collages that
link math with issues in the immediate environment. The example
below is from fifth grade student Erik De la Peña Fernández,
whose artwork speaks about how math is linked not only to everyday
activities, but also more generally to human progress.
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What
Mathematics Means to Me
What mathematics
means to me is that if each person in Mexico or other Latin
American countries knew math with precision, we would not
be in this "third worldism"; mathematics is the
progress of humanity.
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Community Interviews
One way of looking at how math is used everyday in students' communities
was to get them to interview a relative or other adult about how
they use mathematics in their job, daily life, or studies. Students
were encouraged to ask questions about the specific ways in which
math is used, e.g. making calculations, handling money, creating
budgets, taking measurements, analyzing numeric data. Students
then wrote a report with an accompanying illustration or created
math word problems for their peers based on the information they
gathered.
Lina Aoun's grade 5 students, at Valley International School in Jourat
el Ballout, Lebanon each conducted interviews, and created detailed
reports with illustrations. Here is an example of one student's
report.
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Bechara's
Math Interview
My uncle is
a sculptor. I had always thought that his use for Math would
be minimal. Now I know better! It turned out he uses Math
in every day in his life.
He is the type
of sculptor who chisels rocks to get certain forms or shapes.
The forms or shapes differ a great deal, depending on the
client. Sometimes, the client simply needs a specially designed
stone piece for an arch, and sometimes it could be a sculpture
for his garden, etc.
One of the ways
he uses Math is in creating his designs. The part of Math
he uses here is Geometry. Here he makes use of the various
geometric shapes, from the circle, to the square, to cubes,
cones, prisms, etc. Next, he must choose the size of the
design, and the measurement of the different sides. This
depends a great deal on the client, and the on the type
of sculpture he needs. Based on this, he must then choose
the size of the stone he must use. He must check out lots
of stones, before he can find one that would be suitable.
Once that is done, he will then have to do some calculations
to figure out the type of car he will need to move this
stone, or rock.
Then there is
the computation part of Math. That he uses when paying for
the stone. Most of all though he uses it in pricing his
sculptors. He estimates how much time it will take him to
make the sculpture and he multiplies that by the hourly
or daily charge. This will give him the total cost of his
time. Next he will add to that the cost of the tools used,
the cost of the stone. This will result in a certain figure.
He adds a certain percentage on that for profit, and voilaŠ
the final price!
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Rosemary Gaona's bilingual
kindergarten class at Evans Elementary School in Tempe, Arizona,
took home surveys and talked with their families about how they
use math and numbers at home or at their jobs. They then shared
their stories with their classmates, drew pictures to go with
the stories, and made a class book.
Linda Beasley from
the Two Way Bilingual School Edison Elementary in Santa Monica,
came up with the idea of having the Kindergarten - Grade 3 children
in her class formulate math word problems based on interviews
with their parents about how math is used in the real world. Children
then illustrated and solved the problems.
Charlie Bauer teaches
fourth grade in the small town of Phoenix, in Oregon. The school
has a bilingual program, and many of Charlie's students are children
of migrant agricultural workers. One of the people his students
interviewed was the mayor of the town, who is also the manager
of the mobile home park, and seems to be not only a math fan but
also a key player in keeping things flowing smoothly in Phoenix.
(You can visit Charlie Bauer' s home page at http://id.mind.net/-cbauer/cuarto/odllades.html)
Paul Wong had his 8th grade students (primary language Cantonese)
research careers in math, and interview friends and relatives,
and Chinese business people in their community on how math can
help them succeed at work. In this way these children from low-income
families began to see the potential for themselves for building
a career on math.
This activity is useful in heightening the awareness of the practical
uses of math. Many students ask, "why do we have to learn
math if we're not going to use it when we get older?" By
interviewing people in the community with different interests
and professions, the students discover the importance of math
in the adult world.
 Click
here to visit Meg Marino's Class
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