1. Lesson: Creating AB Patterns
Patterns exists both in the natural and manmade world. It is an element in art, as well as math and science.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Music, Visual Arts
2. Lesson: Creating Comic Strips
In this lesson, each student creates an original comic strip to convey a mathematical concept and explores comics as a form of communication.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Visual Arts, Literary Arts
Other Subject: Language Arts
3. Lesson: All Around the Baseball Field
Students construct a mock baseball field and from there explore the sport of baseball through art, movement, and sound.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Music, Theater, Visual Arts
Other Subject: Language Arts, Physical Education
4. Lesson: Sunflowers
Students grow both sunflowers and their knowledge of science and art. After exploring the work of Van Gogh and other artists, students create their own artwork.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Visual Arts, Literary Arts
Other Subject: Science
5. Lesson: Alexander Calder: Master of Balance
Viewing mobiles created by sculptor Alexander Calder, students learn about the function and form of levers. They build mobiles, experiment with balancing levers, and equilibrium.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Science
6. Lesson: How Do Cells Reproduce?
This activity illustrates the process of mitosis, or cell division, in yeast. Cells carry on the many functions needed to sustain life. The most important is the ability to reproduce.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Science
7. Lesson: How Many Cells Are Born in a Day?
In this lesson, students use calculation to predict the number of cells that result from a series of cell divisions. They then graph the results to represent their findings.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject:Visual Arts
Other Subject: Science
8. Lesson: Planets in Balance
Students explore the solar system through
experimentation of mobile design in the style of Alexander Calder.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Science
9. Lesson: Lewis And Clark Prized Possessions
In this lesson, students explore Native American crafts and design and create their own wampum belts using computer technology and mathematical grid system.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Social Studies
10. Lesson: Mandalas, Polygons, and Symmetry
Students will explore the mathematics behind mandalas, including but not limited to shapes and symmetry.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts, Media Arts
11. Lesson: Patterns Across Cultures: The Fibonacci Sequence in Visual Art
The Fibonacci Sequence manifests in nature and visual arts.
Grade: 9-12
Arts Subject: Visual Arts, Media Arts
Other Subject: Science, History
National Gallery of Art:
1. New Angles on Art
Online Interactive Art
Do art and math have anything in common? How do artists and architects use math to create their works? In New Angles on Art, students will explore the intersection of math and art in the works of three contemporary artists. Activities include Sol LeWitt’s Concepts and Structures, Finding Math in LeWitt’s Art, Crazy for Cubes, Geometry and Tony Smith Sculpture, Tantalized by the Tetrahedron, Find the Face, Geometry “Rocks”, I.M. Pei and the Geometry of the NGA, Sort it Out, Pei’s East Building Plan
Includes Student Activities/Teacher Lesson Plans/Printable Worksheets/Glossary/Artist Biographies/Other Resources
Includes Student Activities/Teacher Lesson Plans/Printable Worksheets/Glossary/Artist Biographies/Other Resources
Grade: middle/high (can be adapted for other levels)
Theme: Math, sculpture, architecture
Theme: Math, sculpture, architecture
Artist: I.M. Pei, Lewitt, Tony Smith
Online: Interactive
2. Count on Art
Online Interactive Unit
In Counting on Art, students will explore the paintings of Horace Pippin and Wayne Thiebaud and the mobiles of Alexander Calder to discover and practice math and visual art concepts. In Pippin's Story, young children (grades K–3) focus on a painting by African American artist Horace Pippin. They will learn how to "read" the clues in a painting and write a story about the work. Students will also solve counting and time problems and create their own "secret number" painting. Calder's Balancing Acts focuses on math in the mobiles of Alexander Calder. Elementary- level students (grades 2–5) will learn about the artist and write equations based on Calder's art. Upper-level students (grades 6–8) will discover patterns and the Fibonacci sequence. Both levels will make their own math mobiles. Cake Math, based on a painting by California artist Wayne Thiebaud, features math challenges of many varieties. Elementary-level students (grades 2–5) will practice fractions, addition, subtraction, word problems, sorting, and classifying. Intermediate level students (grades 6–8) will find volume and surface area in Thiebaud's cakes.
Includes Student Activities/Teacher Lesson Plans/Printable Worksheets/Glossary/Artist Biographies/Other Resources
Grade: Elementary / Middle (can be adapted for other levels)
Grade: Elementary / Middle (can be adapted for other levels)
Artist: Alexander Calder
Online: Interactive
3. Alexander Calder
Online Art Information
In-depth look at Alexander Calder’s stabiles, large-scale fixed sculptures.
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Mobiles, modern art
Artist: Alexander Calder
Online Art Information
Feature on I.M. Pei’s architectural design for the National Galley’s East Building. This web feature presents drawings by the architect I. M. Pei and his design team, and a representation of the three-dimensional model for the project. The architect faced several challenges. The new building had to fit an irregularly shaped, trapezoidal site; conform to the monumental scale of the Mall; and harmonize with John Russell Pope's classicizing West Building, completed in 1941.
Includes Exhibition Information/Introduction/Building Design/The Atrium/Images
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Architecture, Math
Artist: I.M. Pei
