In Counting on Art, students will explore the paintings of Horace Pippin and Wayne Thiebaud and the mobiles of Alexander Calder to discover and practice math and visual art concepts.
- In Pippin's Story, young children (grades K–3)
focus on a painting by African American artist Horace Pippin. They will
learn how to "read" the clues in a painting and write a story about
the work. Students will also solve counting and time problems and create
their own "secret number" painting.
- Calder's Balancing Acts focuses on math in the mobiles
of Alexander Calder. Elementary- level students (grades 2–5) will learn
about the artist and write equations based on Calder's art. Upper-level
students (grades 6–8) will discover patterns and the Fibonacci sequence.
Both levels will make their own math mobiles.
- Cake Math, based on a painting by California artist Wayne
Thiebaud, features math challenges of many varieties. Elementary-level
students (grades 2–5) will practice fractions, addition, subtraction,
word problems, sorting, and classifying. Intermediate level students (grades
6–8) will
find volume and surface area in Thiebaud's cakes.
Each lesson includes:
- a lesson plan: an overview with lesson objectives, an implementation plan,
assessment guidelines, and classroom discussion questions
- student activities: lessons for students with math challenges and classroom
and/or online art -making activities
- pertinent national math and visual arts standards
- a brief biography of the artist
- a glossary of art and/or math terms
- online and print resources for extended explorations
The lessons may be done independently or together, depending on classroom focus and time constraints.
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