Approaching math from a new angle

Eighth graders recently approached algebra from a new angle: cubism. To help students see how math connects to other areas of academia, Cindy introduced a small project that combined both math and art. After a quick look at cubism, students created their own abstract art with simple straight lines. As they worked on their illustrations, they practiced finding slopes of a line, finding equations of a line, distance formula in coordinate geometry, the Pythagorean theorem, calculating area and perimeter on a coordinate grid, and systems of equations.

This brief exercise allows students to explore how math exists in many visual patterns they see in their world. “I like this project because it’s a fun, stress-free and visual way to practice math skills and learn new ones,” says Cindy. “It’s a creative way to review algebraic and geometric concepts they’ve already seen, as well as preview ones they’ll see in high school. By making it visual, students have a different perspective on how and why math works in this way and they can connect it to other disciplines.”