“We decided to show the children the amazing properties of the Mobius strip,” says Valeria Ivashchenko. “If you try to cut the strip along a line equidistant from the edges, instead of two Mobius strips, you get one long double-sided strip, which magicians call the ‘Afghan tape.’ In the lesson, we showed the children how to cut two paper rings to make a square, causing much surprise and delight!”
“The lesson flew by quickly,” notes 3rd grade homeroom teacher Anastasia Yakunina. “The high school students were very well prepared and told the children a lot of interesting facts about the Mobius strip.”
“We devoted the second master class to origami,” explains Elizaveta Sergeeva. “We talked about the famous mathematician Frebel, who proposed studying mathematics not with compasses and rulers, but with folded paper figures.”
“Many people think that origami is just fun, where you create different shapes, but a lot of origami is connected with mathematics,” the 10th graders explained. “Origami is connected with geometry and can amaze us with forms, about whose existence we had no idea.”
“We showed the children the possibilities of origami in the study of mathematics,” says Elizabeth Batizat. “In math classes using origami, you can study topics such as horizontal, vertical, and inclined lines, as well as ways of obtaining a square in different ways and various kinds of triangles.
In the origami class, 3rd graders made an airplane, a fox and a frog.
“Such classes allow us to inspire interest in scientific subjects, where you can see practical applications of various theories,” explains ILS Deputy Principal for Science and Scholarship Marina Artemenko. “Many people know about origami, but now our third graders understand how this amazing art is connected with mathematics.”
