Students often see Maths as a boring or even scaring subject. Kids who have difficulties with this subject can benefit from creative Math activities that involve games and Art. To help them to look at Maths from different perspectives and to involve them all, from the most motivated ones to those with special educational needs or disabilities, we developed a STEM activity in which Maths, Technology and Art meet.

Schools all around Europe challenged each other in a Tangram contest. 

Students worked in pair with a mate from another country to share tangram images and they integrated them in a piece of Art.

Partners’ schools

• L’estagnol Sainte-Eulalie – France
• AEAP, EB1 Sarzedas – Portugal 
• I.C. Merate (LC) – Italy
• I.C. Villaputzu (CA) – Italy
• Kocatepe Primary School Ankara – Türkiye

The activity

goals

• develop a positive attitude towards Geometry
• gain comprehension of spatial relationships
• understand how geometric shapes can be decomposed
• develop spatial rotation and translation skills
• learn the meaning of equiscomponibility
• develop problem solving skills
• appreciate the international dimension of STEM

Age of students

7 – 11 years old

Materials

PC or tablets, online tangram tools, physical tangram, sheets, colored pencils or felt-tip pens

Process

We started our activity by pairing up students.

In each team, the students realized a drawing using a Tangram online tool and shared it with their mates. 

Their coworkers reproduced the drawing using a physical tangram made either by wood, cardboard, plastic or paper. They also added a handmade drawing as a background, therefore creating a suitable landscape for the Tangram image.

At the end, everyone could see that their virtual work became a physical piece of Art in another school.

final products

We collected all the drawings in a collaborative e-book.

Have also a look to our a virtual Art exhibition.

Conclusion

Art activities combined with Geometry have significantly contributed to developing the students’ creativity and imagination and brought them closer to Mathematics in a playful and fun way.

The possibility to work in a team with students from other countries kept their motivation high and, consequentially, they developed the ability to work in a team.

Combining work using technological tools with manual Art activities represented a further stimulus to involve the students, encouraging them to work to the best of their ability.