Mathematical Based Art.

 When one comments about mathematically based art, most people automatically think about tessellation's.  It's easy to have students cut a base pattern piece out to use repeatedly to create art but that is not the only thing we can do that is mathematically based.

This site has a bunch of different math based art projects that students will enjoy and still get a dose of math in them.  The first activity they discuss is the "Curves of Pursuit" which is based on the three bugs problem.  Basically you have three bugs traveling at the same speed and if you follow their paths, you end up with some wonderful curves.

This activity comes with a presentation to show students example of this art work before explaining how to construct these beautiful pieces of art work.  Furthermore, there are templets to get the basic shapes and examples of what the finished product might look like.

Another activity suggested is to have students create Celtic Knot work.  This is a bit more complex than the previous exercise.  It comes with a presentation giving information on both historical and modern examples.  The presentation also includes step by step directions to do basic Celtic Knot work.  They also have a handout showing how to create one step by step with illustrations.

They also have directions for creating impossible triangles, impossible rectangle, and an impossible three pronged object.  As with all their art, they include a great presentation showing various impossible objects and directions.  An impossible object is one that looks like it twists into itself.   Furthermore, there are activities designed to explore insect symmetry which has students use tracing paper to create the symmetry of the insects.

There is also an activity where students learn to create both mazes and labyrinths using square grid paper.  One on creating modern art in the style of Ellsworth Kelly.  Ellsworth Kelly is a modern American painter known for his hard edged paintings.  He was born in 1923 and died in 2015.  This uses fractions, decimals, and percentages to create the effect.

Then students could make cardidoids using a curve stitching technique which is the use of straight lines moving around a point to finally produce the shaped item.  This technique could be done with string or with pencils.  Students can also use shapes to create paper patchwork patterns similar to those found made in cloth.  This activity opens up an opportunity to develop rich mathematical conversation.

The last two possibilities for art activities are snowflakes made out of paper using reflective symmetry and Islamic Geometry using a four fold pattern.  Each and every activity has background information and handouts to make it easier to teach if you've never taught art before.  This site has enough activities to spread out over a year and is not restricted to only elementary school.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.