The idea for this column came from an article in the September 2017 issue of the Mathematics Teacher on mathematical selfies.The idea behind mathematical selfies is to have students go out into the world to find examples of various mathematical concepts they can share.
For instance, pictures of a city skyline resemble a histogram, or a row of trash cans provided by the city show congruence since they are all the same.
Take a picture of a mountain range and you have a wonderful example of a polynomial function. Or a picture of a musical score can be used to show fractions. Take a picture of shadows created by a house, apply parallel lines and transverals and you can identify a variety of angles.
The author, Kathy M.C. Juqua, teaches an informal Geometry and Mathematics concepts class. Students chose to use selfies in a variety of ways. Over the semester, students are given 45 terms to work with. Some found pictures representing different vocabulary terms to create individual visual dictionaries.
Others, alphabetized the terms and created a more traditional dictionary with definitions and pictures. Some took the terms, divided them into groups so they could make connections between terms with their selfies. In addition, students made study aids, and compilations.
Another teacher, Rachael Miller assigned her students to take photos from their daily life, annotate them explaining a mathematical concept they are learning in math class. The annotation provides a way to assess a student's understanding of the material.
She used it as a homework assignment. At the beginning only a few students submitted their answer but after sharing the photos with the class, others began to turn their entries in until everyone was doing it.
I am glad I ran across both articles. This might be a way to get my students more interested in mathematics by following Ms Miller's idea for a homework assignment.
Let me know what you think. I'm thrilled to have read both of these works. Have a great day.
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