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ERIC Number: EJ1016753
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Apr
Pages: 10
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1072-0839
EISSN: N/A
Framing Measurement: An Art Gallery Installation
Bush, Sarah B.; Karp, Karen S.; Bennett, Victoria Miller; Popelka, Liz; Nadler, Jennifer
Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, v18 n8 p474-483 Apr 2013
In this article, the authors describe how mathematics teachers and art teachers were able to enthusiastically engage seventh- and eighth-grade students in an interdisciplinary activity focused on scaling, proportional reasoning, and measurement by recreating artwork on a famous private collection. Using the artwork from The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the middle school's art teacher worked with students to help re-create the original paintings through the use of scale drawings and proportional reasoning. Then, in mathematics class, students used measurement to position the paintings in the school hallway to duplicate two gallery walls. This activity meets the seventh-grade and eighth-grade standards found in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSI 2010), which state that students should "compute unit rates associated with ratios of fractions, including ratios of lengths, areas and other quantities measured in like or different units," (p. 48). It also speaks to the geometry domain, which states that students should engage in "reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale" (p. 49). Additionally, this activity addresses "attend to precision," number 6 of the Standards for Mathematical Practice, which states that mathematically proficient students "are careful about specifying units of measure" and "calculate accurately and efficiently" (p. 7). "Using appropriate tools strategically," number 5 of the Standards for Mathematical Practice, states that "mathematically proficient students consider the available tools when solving a mathematical problem" (p. 7). Moreover, this activity supports the essential understanding that "A ratio is a multiplicative comparison of two quantities, or it is a joining of two quantities in a composed unit" (Lobato and Ellis 2010, p. 18).
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191-1502. Tel: 800-235-7566; Tel: 703-620-3702; Fax: 703-476-2970; e-mail: orders@nctm.org; Web site: http://www.nctm.org/publications/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Middle Schools; Grade 7; Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A