Project Outline

Noemi Deschênes

Grade level

Grade 10 and grade 11

Mathematical topic

In grade 10 and 11, we cover many functions. By the end of the year in grade 10, most of my students understand how to use functions and to use them to describe a context. Although, I believe I still have many that do not really understand the meaning of a function and how its rule changes how it looks like on a graph. In this project, I want to build a series of activities that I can pick from in function of my students’ preferences to deepen their understanding of functions, especially the ones where the ‘traditional’ method did not help them develop this meaning (art/craft, movement, and stories). Also, I want to create a cumulative activity with grade 11 (combining different functions) where students will have to create sculptures with functions. I am not sure if the series will focus on which specific function, but I decided to not use linear function because I have already some activities for linear function.

Draft annotated bibliography

Crawford, L. (2004). Accessible and alive: Six good reasons for using the arts to teach curriculum. In Lively learning (pp. 5-14). Northeast Foundation for Children.

This book chapter details reasons why using art to teach is important. I find the reason that it stimulates higher thinking level and it helps build community and teamwork very interesting; those are good arguments to explain why I chose to use arts to build understanding of functions.

Limit: There are few examples supporting the claims.

De Castro Ramirez, M. (2023). 3D Math Art in a Secondary School Classroom. Vector, 64(1), 30-35.

This article details a project realized in a classroom where students built 3D lanterns and fractal structures while integrating stories from the community. This article is interesting because it shows how storywork and artwork can be combined with mathematics to offer a culturally and mathematically rich activity.

Limit: The grade 8 activity is more focused on area than functions. I wonder if it would still be as relevant if I use functions on Desmos to shape lanterns.

Ferrera, F. & Ferrari, G. (2025). Telling the story of a diagram: Affective and aesthetic mathematical experiences. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 119, 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-024-10383-9

This research investigates the power of using stories to describe a diagram. This research is interesting because the same activity can be applied to different types of functions viewed on a Cartesian plane to offer an opportunity to develop a meaning of functions under a different perspective.

Gerofsky, S. (2018). Mathematics and movement. In L. Jao, & N. Radakovic (Eds.), Transdisciplinarity in mathematics education (pp. 239-254). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63624-5_12

This book chapter details transdisciplinary mathematics projects involving movements and how these projects offered new perspectives to understand mathematics. The discoveries mentioned in this book chapter are interesting because it helps conceptualize the best practices when teaching through movements and what it should look like.

Limit: I am unsure if my students will be willing to move their entire body to represent functions. I will have to find a different method than just ‘moving’ functions.

Gerofsky, S. (2024). "Chapter 8 Experiencing Mathematical Relationships at a Variety of Scales through Body Movement, Voice, and Touch". In L. D. Edwards & C. M. Krause (eds), The Body in Mathematics. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004717701_008

This book chapter details how the scales (small, medium, large) used in a mathematical activity can offer different perspectives of a concept; using all three of them offering a holistic view of a concept. This chapter is interesting because first, it gives good ideas of which types of movements/sounds are associated with which scales and second, it helps choose scale(s) when creating/planning a mathematical activity involving arts or movements.

*I read/used this book chapter in another course before; thus, I did not know if I could include it, but it is always in my mind when I think about teaching mathematics through movement and touch.

Golafshani, N. (2023). Teaching mathematics to all learners by tapping into indigenous legends: A pathway towards inclusive education. Journal of Global Education and Research, 7(2), 99-115. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2577-509X.7.2.1224

This research offers an interesting example of how to use storytelling to support students’ mathematical learning. This research is interesting to me because it helps me make a connection between a Naskapi story and function and potentially build an activity around it.

Limit: This research was realized with kindergarten students.

Grinnel, S. Angal, S. (2016). Luminous lighting. Science and Children, 53(6), 54-59.

This article describes how second grade students realized a luminous sculpture (a sculpture with an electrical circuit and a light bulb), combining mathematics, arts, and sciences. This article is interesting because of it is multidisciplinary and because it could be easily adapted to cover electrical circuits and functions, two concepts seen in grade 10.

Limit: I am not sure we have enough material (circuits and light bulbs) to create larger scale sculpture

Poetzel, A., Muskin, J., Munroe, A. & Russel, C. (2012). Three-dimensional printing: A journey in visualization. The Mathematics Teacher, 106(2), 102-107. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5951/mathteacher.106.2.0102

This article describes how to use functions and rotate them to create 3D objects. This article is interesting to use or adapt for the cumulative project I want to do with my grade 11 students.

Limit: I am not sure I will be able to use this method to create 3D sculpture, but I believe I can adapt it.

Vieyra, R. C., Megowan-Romanowicz, C., O’Brien, D., Vieyra, C. C. & Johnson-Glenberg, M. C. (2026). Building embodied intuition for graphs with smartphones. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 119(1), 34-42. https://doi.org/10.5951/MTLT.2024.0297

This article is a case study where teachers implemented an activity where students had to walk the graph on a smartphone app while receiving instant feedback from the app. This article is interesting because I can adapt it and use it in my classroom to invite students to develop a meaning of functions with movement.

Limit: Cellphones are banned in school in Québec.