Since it launched in 2011, the company’s online graphing calculator has been used to create everything from Valentine’s Day “Math-o-grams” to Picasso paintings. The others were evaluated based on visual details and creative use of math formulas and animation features.ĭesmos is no stranger to beautiful doodles. “We got some Disney characters,” he shares, which were disqualified. There was one rule that helped winnow it down: Submissions couldn’t include recognizably copyrighted material. Narrowing the field was “amazingly difficult,” says Eli Luberoff, CEO and co-founder of Desmos. The team selected 60 finalists across three age groups (13-14, 15-16, 17-18) in May, and yesterday announced the winners and runner-ups in each age group. In less than two months, Desmos received submissions from more than 4,000 students from over 100 countries and territories. While usually associated with frightening snakes, “Medusa is a complex character, and I wanted to show that you shouldn’t judge people by preconceived notions or by the single story you hear.” Her submission, titled, “Victim Turned Villain,” is intended to “be a teaching moment,” she says. Kanaley also wanted to use the competition to pose a challenge of her own. She estimated she spent about five hours every day for a month to finish. Kanaley said she taught herself new trigonomic functions to rotate parabolas and make ovals for the drawing. Graphing the wavy curves of the hair and snakes was itself a learning curve. Grace Kanaley, a sophomore at Huntington Beach High School in southern California, submitted a drawing of Medusa, inspired by her interest in Greek mythology and math. Desmos art contest submissions: “Desmos Bar” by Ezra Oppenheimer (left) and “Victim Turned Villain” by Grace Kanaley (right) “It’s wildly outside what most students get exposed to in school,” says von Oy. These aren’t concepts found in most high-school math textbooks. Another student used Python to program Fourier Transform functions to animate a flower. “We see 13, 14-year-olds going online and asking their peers to learn about things that are beyond what they’d normally learn in class.”įor instance, the “Starry Night” recreation was done using Bézier curves, a technique often used in computer graphics. “Looking at these projects, it’s clear that some kids have been so motivated to make beautiful graphs that they’re going out to learn math that most kids don’t learn until college,” says von Oy. But what students submitted were anything but. “It’s been impressive to see students create true masterpieces,” says Suzanne von Oy, a graphing specialist at Desmos, the company that organized the contest.Īnnounced on March 6, the competition challenged students to create any artwork of their choice using the company’s online graphing calculator. Another is a recreation of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous “Starry Night.” Others could pass for postcards of the iconic Hong Kong skyline or the Eiffel Tower.īut these aren’t professional animators or graphic artists. One entry looks like an animation straight from a video game. Contestants must use a graphing calculator and “draw” every line, curve, shade and highlight with an equation. Here are some tutorials on how to use :ĪND, my final bit of advice is to join Twitter and follow Desmos.It’s an art competition unlike most others. If you’re a teacher, you really should check out Play around with anything you can in Desmos! Graphing should be (and can be) fun! Here are some great art examples Desmos has curated. Once you have a reasonable working knowledge of Desmos, practice by making a mathy graph, or try making a picture! You can see my very first (ever) attempt at a picture followed by the improved version I made with just a little more time and effort. Here are some great math examples Desmos has curated. Once you feel comfortable with the basics, branch out into any of the other topics on that look interesting to you! I recommend regressions, restrictions, and lists. Not sure where to start? How about with some of these basics: If you like reading manuals, here’s a pdf user guide, and if you like having a paper version, it’s only 13 pages long so it’s easy to print! To learn as much as you can about learn how Desmos works, the best thing you can do for yourself is get on over to to watch video tutorials and try some interactive tours. But if you’d like a more structured approach, here’s my advice! The Desmos team has worked hard to make it as user friendly as possible. Many people begin learning about Desmos without any official help, just trying it out. Hi there! If you’re new to Desmos, you’re in for a treat! It’s everything you ever wanted a graphing calculator to be.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |