As a middle school math teacher, I'm constantly searching for an activity that my students will be engaged with while gaining a deeper understanding of the concepts that are being taught. I recently came across a lesson plan called “Masterpieces to Mathematics: Using Art to Teach Fraction, Decimal, and Percent Equivalents”. This lesson plan allows students to express themselves through art while working with rational numbers and their relationship on a grid of 100 squares.
In this lesson plan, the student is given a grid of 100 squares and asked to design their own work of art using color markers or pencils. To inspire the students prior to beginning this activity, the teacher can show the class images of Op Art (Optical Art) which can be easily found on the internet. After showing the class the examples, the teacher can begin a class discussion on the concept of a grid with 100 squares. The teacher can call on students to answer some basic questions: For example, “what is the decimal equivalent if I color in 10 squares red?” The answer is 0.1 or as a fraction we say 1/10. The teacher can introduce percent and how a percent relates to fraction and decimals on the grid of 100 squares.
After a brief discussion with the class, the teacher can have the students begin creating their own piece of artwork. Tell the students to use at least 4 colors and create any design or pattern they like. After the student has designed their grid, they can begin labeling all the colors they used and their fraction, decimal, and percent equivalents. This is a great exercise for students to gain an understanding of the relationship of rational numbers. This activity can be made more advanced by using a grid of 200, 400 or even 500. This would require a little more advanced calculations but by all means within the capabilities of a typical middle school math student.
