Drawn Lines Lead to Vibrant Math Creations

From Sachem Central School District: Samoset Middle School math students in the Sachem Central School District explored the unique capabilities of graphing straight lines as they participated in a holiday-themed activity introducing students to quadratics.

Eighth-grade honors students in Alicia Kroczynski’s math class learned how plotting straight lines can lead to creating curves. Utilizing KhanAcademy.org, students observed how quadratics were applied in the environmental modeling of grass in the Disney Pixar film “Brave.” After watching videos on how the graphic designers incorporated straight lines to create realistic curves, students began to work on their own creations.

Using straight lines to connect a combination of dots, students created various holiday objects, such as a Christmas tree star, a snowman and a poinsettia. During the activity, students also familiarized themselves with popular quadratics vocabulary terms, such as axis, rays, angles and parabolic arches.

Photo courtesy of the Sachem Central School District: Samoset Middle School eighth-grade students showed off their holiday themed math creations.