Aside from shadowing and light what helps our eyes and brain see 3d forms on flat paper is perspective. I haven't been able to try this yet, but, as I was thinking about perspective and prospective students I wondered if this might be another way to help students who don't think they can be good at math. A student can observe that an object that is farther away looks smaller. They can observe the shape of the object in relation to itself and the objects around it. There is familiarity in these observations because we observe them without realizing it every day. It's really an easy way to have the students connect that their visual art brain has been working the math brain all along.
Perspective can be found by using the X Y Z axis. While it is important for the student to be able to plot a point on a graph, it's also equally important to show them how math is working all around them.
A cute saying I ran across on www.gradeamathhelp.com that might help the students remember which axis is which was x to the left and y to the sky. It might lack a little directionality, but it can help them get started.
The x y axis is also known as the coordinate plane or cartesian coordinate system. Every point in space, on earth or in your room, has two coordinates which place it uniquely in that spot. When we look at google maps to find the location of the new trampoline park we sometimes see a string of weird numbers with an N or W appended to them. These are the coordinates of the trampoline park's location on earth's x y axis that defines it as being in your town rather than on an island in the South Pacific. Pretty cool, huh? Starting simple is always good.
A popular technique to learn how to use the x y axis is to draw and number it and then count up the y axis, mark it and then count over on the x axis and bring your finger up till it meets the line that marks the y coordinate.
Math Joke of the Week:
Q.What do you say when you see an empty parrot cage?
A. Polygon.
Sophia! First of all I really love your math joke at the bottom that is something older students would definitely love to hear everyday. I also just wrote about how little sayings always helped me in math- and ironically you spoke about this in your blog. I love the saying about remembering the x and y axis- I had never heard that before. I definitely remember always forgetting which axis went which way, so I will definitely use this for myself and for my students in the future! Great post!
ReplyDeleteSophia,
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post. You are letting your creative brain work. Getting students to remember how to move on the coordinate plane is not the only challenge. As students advance the will have to learn about transformations, which include rotation, translation, reflection, and dilation. Students will need to take a different perspective to be able to understand how to move object correctly on the plane. I also like how you broke the car into pieces to relate the math to the real world. And your joke, was pretty cute. Great job!