Flint Township View

Quilting Math





Fifth-graders in Art class at Dye Elementary used mathematical skills to create these beautiful quilts.

Fifth-graders in Art class at Dye Elementary used mathematical skills to create these beautiful quilts.

FLINT TWP. — Quilts usually bring to mind thoughts of keeping cozy and warm on cold winter nights or of public exhibits of a cultural art form.

But for fifth graders at Dye Elementary School, they were tied to a hands-on experience in art class that also enhanced their mathematical skills.

The art/math lesson began with an extensive study of the history of quilts including the meanings of quilt designs, artistic styles, and textural surfaces, according to a class description posted on the Carman-Ainsworth web site.

In the geometry lesson, students cut out six-inch circles then folded them to create three-inch hexagons that were then hand sewn together. The completed hexagon pieces were machine sewn to create the tapestry of three beautiful quilts.

The quilts are currently on display at Dye.

More insight into the use of quilts as a math and geometry lesson can be found on the website www.mathematicalquilts.com/ Rhonda Sanders


 

 

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