Creator: John Boyd-Brent | visit site
Grade Range: 8 - 11
These pages attempt to provide a simple introduction to, and explanation of, the principles governing harmony and proportion in space. The concepts link visual art and math/geometry in very sophisticated ways. Links include Plato: Composition, Pythagoras: Music & Space, Alberti: Harmony & Proportion, Palladio, and The Square Root of Two. Some sections are quite complicated and are best suited for either gifted students or whole-class exploration; however, there are some interesting concepts to explore within the site. The Pythagoras portion has an interesting audio and visual portion explaining number (weight) and musical tone.
In the Classroom
Explore the site with your class on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Be sure to bring up some sample images on the board and apply or explore some of the concepts and annotate images using the pen tools. Share the site as a resource when researching famous mathematicians. Share the site with music, art, and social studies teachers to use as a resource. Use this site for research and have students complete a multimedia presentation using a site such as Smilebox (<a href="/single.cfm?id=11372">reviewed here</a>) to create a slide show, collage, or more.
At Home
This site is a great resource of your student is researching famous mathematicians. Encourage your gifted student to explore the interesting concepts within the site.