Making Math Visible in the Garden ፨

Yesterday, we created miniature hyperboloids out of skewers and elastic bands. A hyperboloid is an alluring mathematical object because it is a curved shape made up of straight lines. 

How is this even possible?

Artist and teacher George Heart, along with a team of volunteers, installed larger versions of this hyperboloid in Orchard Park Garden several years ago. The making of the miniatures acted as valuable models when installing the larger, heavier bamboo versions that stand in the garden today. 

In the afternoon, Katie became a human robot in a workshop called Coding Unplugged, led by Erica Huang, a PhD candidate researching gender and mathematics. When asked 'What is math?" Erica responded that, on a basic level, math is patterns. She added that there remains debate about whether mathematical patterns are created or discovered. Through intentional observation and discourse, working in and with the garden has primed us to recognize natural patterns.

Just as Heart's work makes abstract math visible, allowing you to see the possibilities of manipulation, teaching computational skills outdoors grounds concepts, such as computational commands, in a dynamic, real-life context. Both of these methods are changing how I think about teaching, in and with the garden, as a multi-sensory experience that offers opportunities for vital human connection with the natural world.