Area, Perimeter, & Energy
My School, My Museum
4th Grade | DECEMBER | Science + Math + Visual Arts
Teachers, staff, and museum educators collaborated to dream up a project that focused on science (potential and kinetic energy) and math (area and perimeter) and connected these subjects to visual arts. To learn more about the program: My School, My Museum, click HERE.
Check out the lesson plan to get a feel for class visit to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Click to expand OR right click and "open image in a new tab"
Copy of 2019.12_4th_Lesson Plan-Math&Science.docx - Google Docs.pdfThe Artworks
Click on an image below to see more about the artwork on the Crystal Bridges website
Mark di Suvero's Lowell's Ocean
Frank Lloyd Wright's Bachman-Wilson House
In the Classroom
Students start the morning out with presentations on Energy (potential and kinetic) from their science teacher, Debbie Benton, and Area and Perimeter from their math teacher, Holly Gibbons.
Benton used a PowerPoint to review energy (click on her presentation to discover more), and Gibbons used the whiteboard in the classroom to refresh "area" and "perimeter" and practice a few math problems.
Copy of Energy_Review.pptx
Artwork & House
Students participated in discussions about the artwork and architecture. At each stop, educators moved the conversation to include vocabulary that the students learned in the classroom.
We couldn't take photographs inside the Bachman-Wilson House; however, students thoroughly enjoyed exploring the innovative architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright through this Usonian Home. Students were amazed by the way the architecture compressed them in a dark hallway as they entered and then expanded into a living space full of light with full view of the nature surrounding the house. Students discussed the Usonian concept as well as the features of the house. Arts Integration Coordinator, Alyssa Wilson, encouraged them to look (no worries -- there was no touching) and collect images of all of the objects and architectural features found inside. She then led a discussion of what they saw and how the architecture made them feel. She moved the conversation to include a discussion of the 4 foot x 4 foot grid (etched into the concrete floor and included in the architectural plans/drawings for the house) and how those lines not only helped the Bachman-Wilson family build the house in the 1950's but also allowed anyone to easily calculate area and perimeter. Students discussed how careful measurements were essential for a project such as this.
Photos are coming for the artwork stop! However, take a look at the image below and think about the Mark di Suvero's Lowell's Ocean the way the students did. School Programs Manager, Sally Ball, facilitated a conversation about this incredible artwork. Students noticed how the artwork interacted with the landscape. They identified the material used (steel) and also the way the steel beams form organic swirls in the air. Ball asked students to think about a small ball and imagine what that ball would do on the curved steel ... how would it move? Students discussed the forces and energy, kinetic and potential, that would be at work if the ball did move across the sculpture. Towards the end of the stop, Ball asked students to think about a roller coaster (she also let them know that they would be creating their own in their science classes) and make a sketch of a coaster that was inspired by the movement and line found in the artwork.
Now let's apply it! Classroom II
Students were divided into two groups. One group focused on the science concepts and the other group focused on the math. The groups switched after about 30 minutes so they could explore both subjects.
In the science classroom, students broke into groups of 2 or 3 and inspired by the artwork and their sketches started exploring with cardboard, tape, and ping pong balls to create roller coasters that would carry the ball in a series of swirls and movements. This exercise was meant as a time of exploration. Students will make roller coasters with other materials in the classroom, and these experiments will help dictate the decisions they make with the final projects.
In the math classroom, students also formed groups. Students viewed the Bachman-Wilson House floor plan on a projector and were offered activity sheets that identified which rectangular piece of the house they were responsible for within their group. Each group was challenged to recreate the floor plan using sticky notes (each square represented the 4 foot by 4 foot grid in the house) and measure their floor plan pieces to find the area and perimeter. Back in the classroom, they will cut out their pieces and fit them together to form the floor plan of the entire house. They will then calculate the area and perimeter of the entire house based on the math they did with the sections.
You will find the activity sheets for the Perimeter/Area project below -- there are seven sheets, and each sheet has a seperate section of the house.
Copy of Group 1--Living Space #1.pdfCopy of Group 2--Living Space #2.pdfCopy of Group 3--Dining Space.pdfCopy of Group 4--Utility Space.pdfCopy of Group 5--Work Space.pdfCopy of Group 6--Study & Guest.pdfCopy of Group 7--Entry.pdfStudents work on their floor plan sections!
