For this week’s activity, I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to try anything with a full class, it was just one of those weeks 😏 but I did try the mathematical wave and handshake at home with my husband and daughter.
I figured out how to do the handshake, but, does anyone else struggle with twisting their arms that way? I can technically make it work, but it does not look natural or smooth enough yet to pass as a convincing trick. I feel like I need more practice before trying it in front of a group of students. That said, I do want to keep working on it because I can see how engaging it would be in a classroom, maybe as a hook into rotations or transformations in geometry?
The wave was also really interesting. After we got the basic pattern, I started wondering what would happen if we continued it. Of course, physically, an arm can’t keep rotating in that direction forever, which immediately opens up such a great mathematical conversation. What are the limits of physical space versus mathematical abstraction? I can see how this is useful not only for rotations in geometry but also for robotics, thinking about joints, range of motion, constraints, and modelling movement.
From the viewings, I really enjoyed the longsword dances. Both of my daughters did Highland dance for years, and I could easily envision choreographing something similar using patterned movement, especially for open choreography divisions. The only thing I’m unsure about is that they use real (blunted) swords, not sticks. I’m not sure if that would change the feasibility of certain formations or crossings.
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| Picture of the broadsword dance in Highland Dance |
I also spoke with the music teacher at the school where I’m based about the 3-beat and 4-beat clapping pattern meeting at 12. She was immediately intrigued. She often tells students that there is a lot of math in music, and this felt like a tangible way to show it rather than just say it. We’ve started discussing some sort of collaboration, which I’m excited about. It feels like one of those small entry points where students could physically experience least common multiples instead of just calculating them.
I keep thinking about the kids interviewed about embodied math who say "I can feel the math in my body." It is exciting to think about creating opportunities for this to happen. Involving the music teacher and music class will also help students see that math is not just inside the math classroom.
ReplyDeleteAs I side note: I was also distracted when watching the sword dances wondering how it might work with an actual sword that has a sharp edge.