Ed Emberly's art books inspire students to create art from shapes that are divided into fractions. Simple fraction lesson plan that incorporate art with math.
Fraction art projects are a wonderful way to bridge math with art. Students get excited about art but usually moan with the mention of math. Introduce Ed Emberley's exemplary art books to the class. Picture Pie: A Circle Drawing Book, Little, Brown, 1970 is a cut and paste drawing book that teaches young artists how to make animals and birds from dividing a circle.
Fraction Art Introduction: Folding a Shape into Fractions
Place a paper circle, square, oval, rectangle, hexagon, and octagon on the board. Set aside a few of the shapes for demonstration purposes.
Hold up a square and ask the students how they can make the square into two equal pieces. Ask a volunteer to show the class. Have the student color in half of the square. Tape the divided square under the square and beside it or underneath it and write ½. Take another square and ask the students how it can be divided into 4 equal pieces. Have a student demonstrate to the class and color a quarter of the square. Label the square with a fraction. Continue until the paper can be no longer folded or to a desired fraction such as 1/8 or 1/16.
Do the same activity with the remaining shapes or model only a few more. If students wish to use an octagon they must demonstrate to the teacher how to divide it into equal parts. Tailor the fractions to the math level of the class or each student.
Shared Fraction Art Activity
Teacher tapes a circle to the blackboard. Teacher asks the students how to divide the circle into 2 equal halves, 4 equal quarters, and 6 equal sixths. Teacher demonstrates how to fold and cut the circle into the different fractions. Teacher places tape on the back of the fraction pieces on the board.
Next step is for the teacher to make a flower using four quarters of the circle. One of the quarters is the bottom of the flower and the other three quarters are the petals of the flower. The teacher can make a fish from 3 quarters as illustrated in the photo.
Guided Activity
Students recreate the fish and flowers at their desk and glue the fraction art to construction paper. Teacher will leave the modeled fraction art on the blackboard for reference. Students are allowed to use markers to add detail to their fish and flowers.
Independent Activity
1. Students create fraction art using a variety of shapes. Students must identify all of the shapes by writing the fraction on the different shapes used in their fraction art.
Sample: Fraction Fish, each shape represents ¼ of the circle even though only 3 shapes are used.
2. Teacher gives specific fractions for different or the same shape and students must create an art piece. The art piece has no limits except it must adhere to the specific fraction requirements.
