The East Carolina University Math/Art Project was a study to determine the effect of interdisciplinary art and math lessons on learning in both content areas. Thirty art and math teachers from Pitt County were given 60 hours of inservice training in interdisciplinary math and art content, lesson plans, and art material.

There were 146 participating students in grades 3-7. Over 9,000 student artworks were created during the project. Classes receiving the art lessons showed significantly improved understanding of the selected mathematics concepts compared to children not receiving art instruction.

The overall results deomnstrate that art and mathematics are compatible disciplines whose integration can enhance learning in mathematics.

Visual exemplars for each concept consisted of ten objects from the ECU School of Art's African Art Collection. Each lesson consisted of a hands-on art experience based on one of the following ten mathematical concepts:

For example, weaving was used to teach the concept of tessellation. Tessellation is the covering of a plane by closed shapes without gaps or overlays. A single shape can be used such as a square, a checkerboard, or equilateral triangles. More complex arrangements can also be developed from more than one shape such as the penrose kite and dart tiles. In this lesson, all children, K-12, created interesting tessellation patterns.

Tessellation patterns can be found in the prints of M.C. Esher, Islamic architects, and in the art of cultures from around the world such as the tessallating triangles on a bowl with Mother of Pearl Encrustation, Micronesian Art c. 18c., British Museum, London (AHP), and textiles from Africa.

The visual exemplar for the concept of tessellations, ECU #L0111, was a pair of Ngongo textiles from the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire. These two cut-pile textiles have geometric designs in brown and cream. They are known as Kasai velvets, woven of raffia palm fiber that has been soaked and beaten to create the velvet-like texture. Once the cloth was woven by men on a small loom, women embroidered it with designs that transmitted information about family history, myths, and moral lessons. Such cloths were used to cover the king's throne or place under his feet, or as dowries and burial cloths.

 

 

Lesson 7 Tessellations

NCSCS Math: Goal 5: Use mathematical thinking and reasoning to solve problems.

Visual Art: Goal 7: Perceive connections between visual arts and other disciplines.

Artist Resources: East Carolina University School of Art Museum Without Walls African Art Collection, the work of M.C. Escher

K-2 Create a tessellating pattern from a slide.

1/2 sheet of typing paper
One piece of tag board 2'' X 2''
Tape
Scissors
Pencils
Watercolor

3-5 Understand how to cut parts from a square and slide them to the opposite side of the form to create a pair of tessellating forms.

Create a tessellating pattern from a slide.
1. Draw a line across the 2'' X 2'' tagboard in the direction of the slide.
2. Cut a shape from the side of the tag. Be certain that the cut out shape includes part of the line.

6-8 Understand how to divide the angles of a triangle and/or a square to create tessellating forms.
Create a tessellating pattern from a rotation.
Same as above but double the paper: 2 different colors.

9-12 Understand how to divide the angles of a triangle and/or a square to create tessellating forms.
Create a tessellating pattern from a slide.
Create a tessellating pattern from a rotation.
Same as above but give two sets of paper (ie. 4 sheets of 8 1/2'' X 6'' paper paired in 2 different colors.)