Today's class had us sketching both natural and man-made objects to appreciate the concept of angles. I found the experience calming and thought provoking. I felt that the more I looked at the natural objects I was studying - leaves, fennel "blossoms", fir branches - the more intricacies I discovered; in contrast the main-made objects were much simpler to "understand" and process. I loved seeing the man-made structures being adapted by nature: crooked sticks, warped planks, sun-bleached metal, shadow-play across surfaces. This gradual adaption of something so ordered and precise, made me think of how we could adapt our mathematics teachings and also how our students can make the concepts we teach their own.
Another thing that struck me was that I didn't really need to actually understand all the natural complexities I was seeing to enjoy them. I learned math through proofs and practice - there was no artistic creativity incorporated in the lessons. Consequently I tend to focus on understanding something before I can appreciate it, but today's experience gave me a different perspective that I hope to take into my own teaching practice.
I'm sharing a pic I took on my way home as it really resonated with my experience today.
I love your picture! It has such a contrast between these two 'tall' things and their patterns of growth/ construction.
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