Creativity and precision sometimes develop out of the simple desire to discover a beautiful symmetrical pattern. Third through sixth grade elementary students at AOC, who still learn by doing, are careful and exact as they construct elaborate geometric designs using a compass and a straightedge.
Most of these students have been handling two and three dimensional shapes since they were just three years old. During their preschool years they learned to identify quadrilaterals, regular polygons, seven types of triangles and many geometric solids. They traced numerous outlines, subconsciously absorbing the regularity of the shapes while incorporating geometric terms into every day conversation in their classrooms.
During their early elementary years the same students studied the lines and angles that formed the plane figures and solids they had talked about and handled when they were younger. They inscribed figures using equivalent fraction insets, trying to determine "which shape fit where," renaming them as they did so. They learned new terms, measured perimeters and areas, and discovered that all of these figures coexist in nature as well as in the man-made objects around them.
With careful control of the sharp points of their pencils against their rulers, these determined young scholars have been able to discover and test geometric theorems, long before they will be formally tested on those proofs in a high school geometry class. Unwittingly, from their own experiential art work, they have become familiar with many postulates derived by Euclid nearly 2000 years ago.
Our current society seems to rush students through the curriculum, rather than giving them a steady, thorough approach to learning a concept. It is quite refreshing to witness the tremendous satisfaction and deep understanding that comes from personal discovery, in this case following the creation of some beautiful designs. Creative freedom is a powerful motivator which can drive students to continue a personal study of the fine art as well as the science of geometry.
- Mrs H.
