Ir al contenido principal

22/05_Seeking for patterns


            Geometry is an extensive field with many applications in real life. To introduce this topic we think that it could be a good idea to make a small project with the students. We can ask them to take pictures of geometrics figures or patterns in the façades of the buildings. Then, they can describe the elements with the knowledge they already have. I have done my own quest, and here are the results:


Illustration 1. Pasaje Cuartel de Caballería

What can we say about this first composition? First of all, it is plane figure. Then it is formed by three parallel squares. Each square has 4 semi circles, opposite to each other, creating like a kind of flowers. If we duplicate again and again this composition, we would have a tessellation because (1) all squares form a tessellation because there are not any gaps and (2) there are not geometric figures overlapped. 


Illustration 2. Tara building, S/ Tara (Dublin). Autor: Esteban Zamora. 

This composition could have been a mosaic. It is made of diagonal strips that converge, then, the artist created rhombus painted in different colours. I say it could have been a mosaic because mainly the figures created are rhombus, but then intentionally, the artist has broken the symmetry in the frames of the two sides of the front building. 


Illustration 3. Building in Av/ Moliere (Málaga) [Self-made].

This seems harmonious work seems to be the small windows of the bathrooms or the corridors of the building. It can perfectly create a mosaic, made of a equilateral triangle that is cut in three small triangles… it is simple but effective and it is amazing how we can create beautiful compositions with just one single geometric figure.



 
Illustration 4. Detail of a house (Dublin) [Self-made].

In the front of the building of this house, we can see different geometric elements. In the doors there are semi-circles, rectangles and figures that aren’t exactly rectangles or semi-circles, but figures that have those elements. There is also, in the traffic sign, a circle, etc.

 
Illustration 5. Detail of one of the many churches in Dublin. Autor: Esteban Zamora. 


This an arch of the many types of arches that exist in the history of the architecture. This case is a pointed arch, typical from baroque architecture among others.
With small project we want our students to appreciate the implications that geometry have in our lives and analyse their features. It can be done, for example, through jigsaw¸ a technique of cooperative learning. With this technique, groups of students investigate about a topic, becoming experts on it. Then, the different groups of pieces of the puzzle, divide themselves and go around the other groups explaining what they have learnt, so that everybody learn about every topic, but you are only an expert on one of the topics.
Maybe from now on, they would be observing the world with other glasses, analysing with more knowledge the reality, or we would be creating future architects or art historians… Stay tuned for next posts! 

References
Aronson, E. (n.d.). The Jigsaw Classroom In Jigsaw. Retrieved from https://www.jigsaw.org/

Teselaciones y mosaicos. (n.d.). En Agrega.educación. Retrieved from http://agrega.educacion.es/repositorio/29052014/17/es_2014052912_9090549/teselaciones_y_mosaicos.html
  
Tipos de arcos en arquitectura. (n.d.) En Arkiplus. Retrieved from https://www.arkiplus.com/tipos-de-arcos-en-arquitectura/
 


Comentarios

Publicar un comentario

Entradas populares de este blog

23/05_The geometry of the Alhambra

Alhambra is an Andalusian palace and a fortress situated in the city of Granada, in the South of Spain. It is marvellously decorated with geometric forms that make this place unique in history, being the last place and city to be conquered back by the Christians in Spain in 1942, when it became the Royal Court of Isabel and Fernando The Catholic .  Although it was originally constructed in AD 889 on the remains of Roman fortifications, it was not only the mid-13 th century when it was rebuilt. Even so, we can think about how long geometry has been present in our history . In 1984 it was awarded as UNESCO World heritage site, a tittle very important because it warrants a proper conservation and special care. We are going to do a small journey through its numerous rooms to study the different geometric decorations. Are you ready?             Through geometric figures are created continuous duplications that all toge...
Publicar un comentario
Leer más

26/05_Linguistics and geometry?!

In today’s posts I would like to introduce some English idioms (although we can use many of them in Spanish) to explain and understand in more depth ideas about geometric figures. Here we find a list of ‘geometric idioms’ and some other mathematic expressions. Teen love triangle in Twilight. Geometric idioms A u-turn > Un giro de 180º It means a 180-degree turn , a radical turn , a complete turnaround , a complete turn in the opposite direction . It is quite visual because the form of the ‘u’ gives you the whole idea with just hearing, painting or writing it.  Look at it from a [fresh, new] angle > Depende del ángulo por el que se mire Maybe, inside a square you only have a 90º angle, but outside, you have what is left… which means that you have a 270º angle! ‘He is so square!’ > Una persona conservadora A person old-fashioned or conservative. This sense of the word “square” originated with the American jazz community in the 19...
Publicar un comentario
Leer más

27/05_Create your own emblem

Everybody likes to feel part of the group, and this is indeed important in our classroom. My proposal for today is to create their own emblem with geometric figures . This can be done in numerous ways and using different techniques to achieve that. What can the theme of our badge? Let’s give some ‘situations’: ·          We are part of the graphic design of the different houses of Harry Potter : Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The different houses have decided to do a makeover of their badge and they have asked for your help. Dividing the class into four groups, they have to redesign the badge of their house. ·          We would like to create the emblem of the class . The sense of community is something that brings people together and this is a good way to promote such feeling. Between different groups, we can do a competition , and the most original one would represent our cla...
Publicar un comentario
Leer más