Pieces of my Heart

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For my final post in the Mathematics Series, I want to share one of my favorite projects. (Don't worry...just taking a break from the math to begin a new series)

Piecewise functions can be drag and cause students to break into pieces themselves. To me, piecewise functions can be the most useful ones in all mathematics. I usually explain to students that these are thieves - stealing pieces of functions that it needs or finds useful.

"To me, mathematics, computer science, and the arts are insanely related. They're all creative expressions." ~Sebastian Thrun

One of the BEST projects that I've done for my students is creating a "piece" of art using only piecewise functions. Not only do I get to see my students creativity come to life, but I also can determine their level of understanding of this topic. The project requires...

• Knowledge of Parent Functions
• Knowledge of Domain and Range
• Knowledge of restrictions that apply to different functions
• How to utilize inequalities for shading

Instead of focusing on graphing these functions and writing their equations on a worksheet, students are practicing these skills digitally but also engaging in other digital skills. Students loved coming to class to create a picture using maths. They were constantly surprised about how maths could fit into the pictures they were creating. Students were driven to reach beyond functions we've seen and create new ones (circles, ellipses, and trigonometric function). At the end, students shared their work and voted on their favorites to be featured on our class Twitter page.

Project: Pieces of Art

Directions: 

1. Students work with a partner to complete the activity in Desmos. This will help them discover and learn Piecewise Functions. This activity walks them through how to create different functions using Desmos.
2. The last slide of the activity provides a link to the Desmos website for students to get started with their creation.
3. A rubric is included below that uses Google Docs (paperless we go!).

👍TIP: Have students create a Desmos Account! This way they can save their work each day and then email you the picture at the end of the project!

👍TIP: Use a Google Form for student submissions. Then you have all the links in one place and your email is less flooded!

Materials:

• Student Activity in Desmos (Click me!)
• Piecewise Art Rubric (Click me!) 
• Example of a Google Form for student submission (Click me!)