As a capstone project for his Algebra 2 Honors students, Upper School math teacher Michael Gustin had students utilize their toolbox of graphing skills for a project labeled Drawing with Desmos.
Using graphs of mathematics equations, students created very artful pieces – some of which Mr. Gustin captured in a slideshow.
“Algebra 2 Honors students have been working very hard on a graphing project, and students created some amazing work. The slideshow highlights some exceptional pieces so that everyone can enjoy these mathematical works of art,” said Mr. Gustin.
The assignment came about after students studied conic sections, which are graphs of shapes that can be obtained by taking the cross section of cones such as circles, ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas, according to Mr. Gustin.
Using the online graphing utility, Desmos, students then manipulated these equations (as well as many other types of equations) to create drawings made of mathematical formulas.
“In doing so, students learned how changing different values in the equations affects the overall position and shape of the graphs,” he explained.
Students were also challenged to combine many different equations together, which required them to find intersections and restrict domains/ranges. For those students who elected to color their photos, there was also an element of having to work with inequalities instead of equations to shade particular regions.
“The project served as a capstone of almost all graphing skills that students encounter throughout their study of Algebra 2,” said Mr. Gustin.
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