re confused. Then I drew a line segment on the board and measured it. Whoa – it was 150mm by 3mm – it had a width! It was a rectangle, not a line segment, after all.
“A drawn line isn’t a real line; it’s a symbol of a line,” X summarized nicely for us. Likewise, we realized, you can’t draw a circle, only a symbol of a circle. What is the name of the shape you really draw when you attempt to draw a circle? A bagel? A donut? The kids didn’t know. Do you? I told the kids that I also couldn’t remember the mathematical name for that shape, so desperately tried to find it online before class. I unexpectedly found it on a Swahili website. It’s called a “pete” in Swahili, known more commonly in English as a ring. (So obvious with our 20/20 hindsight.)
As Gina worked with the kids on using transfer paper to copy designs onto skin, I read a bit more from Schneider, and began a massive list of various interpretations of geometric symbols/shapes. We discussed the inherent tension in the dyad/line/number 2. “Like mother-daughter tension,” added a student.
Before I pass the baton to Gina Gruenberg, here’s the link to last week’s photos (http://talkingsticklearningcenter.org/bouncing-between-rationalism-and-empiricism/). Thanks to several of you for reminding me to put those photos in.
This week I had the good fortune of being part of the Math Circle on Monday (a make-up class) and Tuesday. What a great group of kids and a fun way of learning math. I wish I had learned math this way when I was growing up! On Monday, perhaps due to the cold and the day, we only had three students, but had fun making henna paste using two recipes. The recipes are below. We used a scale to measure the first batch of henna powder in grams. This powder, called Jamila, is from Pakistan; it comes packaged in a 100 gram foil sealed package from Henna Caravan in California. Each recipe contains:
• a liquid that is acid: lemon or tea,
• a mordant: the dye fixative which releases the dye from the mixture so that the Henna paste creates a temporary stain on the skin. Specific essential oils, also known as “terps” are recommended as mordants for Henna; the gentlest one is Lavender Essential Oil which is especially good for children and pregnant women. Henna Caravan sells organic or wild crafted, pesticide free essential oils. The other oil that I ordered for the class is their signature essential oil blend: Melaleuca Cajeputi, Wild Orange and Lemongrass oils from Australia.
• sugar: this ingredient, used in the lemon recipe, helps the henna adhere to the skin
Following Rodi’s discussion last week about circles, we looked at the Olympic Logo of 5 interlocking circles and began discussing their significance as well as the Continents in the world, where Henna grows (ie. which continents) and the number of continents represented in the Olympics (5). 2 Since 5 was the number of the day, I showed them the significance of the number 5 in Moroccan Henna. Moroccan Henna designs are most often used for protection and fertility. Henna is believed to contain “Baraka” or good luck; the henna designs are seen as talismans or blessings on the skin. The number 5 is linked to the hand, the 5 fingers and protection symbols.
I took the Henna paste that we mixed home to keep warm under a lamp so that the dye would release for Tuesday’s class. Then I brought it back and showed the kids how to make (cut, roll and tape) and fill cones. The cones - or applicators - are one way of applying the paste to the skin. We may also try paint brushes and other tools of their invention. We also explored using spirit transfer paper so that we could transfer designs that they made on paper to the skin. This is what tattoo artists use for transferring designs and I asked who knew the difference between a Tattoo and Henna.
•“Tattoos are permanent, Henna is temporary.”
•“Tattoos can be colored, Henna is orange, or shades of brown and burgundy.”
“T” told us that in gymnastics meets Henna is not allowed, so I made some tubes of colored gel (also from Henna Caravan and made with gel and Mica for body art). 