On May 23, Glenfield’s House Ramiccio Math 8 students participated in a unique project that was not only educational…but tasty! The 42 Math 8 students (individually or in pairs) presented food projects related to their geometry studies during the third marking period. Topics included the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse, parallel lines cut by transversals, polygons and their interior and exterior angles, and similarity. The culminating event of the geometry unit and purpose of the project was for students to write a word problem, solve it, and teach their classmates about an aspect of geometry, honing their presentation skills and using their artistic and culinary skills in illustrating their presentation.
" have found that when students take on the role of teacher, it makes their own understanding of a topic richer,” said Glenfield Math teacher Sharon Hurwich. "Students always find it more difficult than they imagine writing their own problems. Several students needed help choosing a topic and then writing a word problem in which their chosen topic in geometry would be part of the solution to the problem. I brainstormed with many students to write the word problems, to decide how to illustrate the problems in food, and to decide how to display the word problem and solution on a poster. I used my background as a Writer's Room coach (before I became a math teacher), to edit their word problems and correct their grammar, spelling, and punctuation.” The finished products were academically and visually incredible... and edible too!
"Many Glenfield students are talented writers and artists, so this project gave them an opportunity to showcase their talents in a mathematical context," said Hurwich. "Some of the posters were amazing artistic creations. Being able to create (and of course) eat a food project to illustrate math was, for all students, (and pardon my pun) 'cing on the mathematical cake.'"
"When I did this project with an algebra class a few years ago, one of the students told me that she did not really understand the topic she chose (the slope of a line) until she had to write a word problem about it and figure out how to illustrate her topic in food,"Hurwich continued. “That's the kind of student feedback that lets me know how useful this project is. Many students have such anxiety about math; if that can be dispelled by making math "food,"so much the better."