Integrated Projects in Math, Art and Beyond
by Stefanie Mandelbaum and Jacqueline S. Guttman
What is ARThematics?
ARThematics = art that uses mathematical concepts. For over 10 years, Stefanie Mandelbaum has been developing and teaching numerous ARThematics workshops for students and teachers in the New York tri-state area. Stefanie, holder of both an MFA in sculpture and an MAT in math education, has had remarkably successful results in utilizing art projects to reinforce mathematical concepts.
ARThematics Plus extends the original math/art concept to incorporate language arts, world cultures, music, dance, architecture, science and even culinary arts into the teaching of mathematics. Many of these “tangents” were developed by Jacqueline Guttman, an arts-in-education consultant who has written numerous curriculum guides that supplement in-school arts residency programs.
ARThematics Plus: Integrated Projects in Math, Art and Beyond was published in 2003. It is a resource book for teachers in grades 4-6 but many of the lessons and ideas can be tailored for older or younger grades, as Stefanie herself has done. ARThematics Plus is divided into two major sections – Shapes, Symbols and Symmetry and Pondering Proportions. Explicit math/art lesson plans introduce and reinforce such topics as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; fractions; least common denominator; decimals, percents and ratios; rational and irrational numbers; plane and solid geometry; symmetry and asymmetry; prime and composite numbers; polygons and tessellations; direct and inverse proportions; Fibonacci numbers; the Golden Mean.
Each chapter contains an overview, a list of material and equipment, a math-art activity, and follow-up “tangents” incorporating other subject areas. Glossaries, black-line masters of Stefanie Mandelbaum’s original illustrations, and lists of additional resources and websites are also included. Designed to help teachers comply with NCTM Standards, the lessons engage students by demonstrating the use of fundamental mathematical concepts in the creation of works of art. While the primary goal is to reinforce these concepts, we hope as well that the activities will enable students to understand the relationships between math, art and the larger universe.