At North Broward Preparatory School we strengthen the impact of our many initiatives by joining them – making connections through exciting experiences, projects, and events.
This spring we highlighted our STEAM initiative, collaboration with MIT, Visible Thinking approach, and launched our campus-wide Art Walk simultaneously, through a spectacular visit from Dr. George Hart, professor of engineering at Stony Brook University, mathematical sculptor, and MIT alum.
Dr. Hart champions art, design, engineering and math by creating mathematically inspired art, leading workshops, and sharing lessons and activities via http://makingmathvisible.com.
Making Math Visible “…empowers teachers by offering easily accessible resources with strong curricular connections and giving them the tools and the confidence to incorporate hands-on learning into their own math classes. Many of the activities touch on aspects of math beyond the textbook, such as 3D geometry, topology, graph theory, problem-solving, spatial reasoning, proportional thinking, etc.”
During his visit, Dr. Hart perfectly connected our above initiatives by designing and building (with our students) a sculpture, Erubescence, for our Lakeside Hall Atrium and leading a multitude of exciting math and art workshops for students and faculty at all divisions.
Through these workshops, our students and faculty enjoyed hands-on building/ designing activities. They created artworks and structures that inspired discussion and inquiry and explored ways to make math learning more engaging and memorable.
“In the workshops… students, instructors, and other participants become co-learners and co-creators of design-based projects that excite and engage them. We are very interested in the idea of breaking barriers between formal and informal education using interest-driven activities that connect to school learning and foster a math culture in and around the school.” - George Hart and Elisabeth Heathfield