Origami, Art and Mathematics at school

We present a new experience of how the introduction of origami at math classes brings a lot of benefits, viewing origami as a tool that allows to construct cognitive artifacts and also as a clear example of learning by doing strategy. The advantages of the use of origami in mathematics education are clear: visualization, improvement of spatial skills and specific language, tangible approach to problem solving, but also soft skills like self-confidence, patience and concentration. However, this time we add an artistic component, what makes this experience original and cross curricular, and adds other advantages to the previous ones. Specifically, we present a part of a project held in an Italian school, done together with the Italian association “T’immagini” (@asstimmagini), that involved all the levels of studies, from kindergarten to high school, during the scholastic year 2018-2019. In this work we focus on the activities held at the classes of students from 5 to 7 years, giving enough information so that teachers can reproduce the project at their classes. We also sketch how to extend this approach to higher levels of education. For the 5th degree level, the complete work is at the proceedings of Edulearn19. The main idea of the project consisted in chose famous paintings all related by the subject of the sky. Each teacher of each class level chose a painting. After that, we chose the parts of this painting we wanted to cover with origami models, following the shapes on it or making a free interpretation of the elements represented. In this way, we obtained a new 3D collaborative artwork. On each of the origami models, we designed a math lesson, whose topics where all related by some theme, and helped to make connections between different math subjects. • At the kindergarten level, the painting chosen was Castle and Sun, by Paul Klee. The part we decided to cover were the castle and the sun. From the point of view of learning folding and vocabulary techniques, it was a way to introduce two simple origami bases, the Triangular or Waterbomb base and the Preliminary base. This allowed to present different types of shapes and to practice the recognition of triangles and squares. The model to conclude with something to bring at home was a traditional box. At the first level of primary school the goals where similar and the painting chosen was by Paul Klee, too. • At the second year of primary school, the painting chosen was Water Lilies, by Claude Monet. The part we decided to cover were parts of the pound and the water lilies. The origami base showed was the Blintz base and all the math activities were related with symmetries. The model involved was the traditional origami model Fortune Teller. The participants, in total around 200 students, appreciated a lot these activities, as show the results of surveys.