Reference Publications

Origami math: "unfold" learning with hands-on fun

Instructor, April, 2004 by Karen Baicker

The art of origami is truly hands-on learning. As students use their fine motor skills to fold and crease paper into fun shapes and structures, they build skills involving spatial reasoning, following precise directions in sequence, fractions, geometry, and more. Best of all, the results--fantastic frogs, dragon-flies, birds--are works of art!

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Your students can try out their own origami creations with the Whale Reproducible on page 44 and Frog Reproducible on page 45. Here are some tips on teaching with origami:

Prepare for the Lesson

* Try the activity on your own ahead of time to anticipate any areas of difficulty that students may encounter. Your completed activity provides a model for them.

* Think through the math concepts you want to highlight. On each reproducible, you'll find math vocabulary and questions for students.

* You can use regular copy paper for the patterns. However, you can also use packs of origami paper, or cut your own squares. Keep in mind that thinner paper is easier to fold. Gift wrap, catalogs, magazines, menus, calendars, and other scrap paper can be wonderful for these projects. It's best to work with paper where the two sides are easily distinguished.

Teach the Lesson

* Demonstrate the folds with a larger piece of paper. Make sure the paper faces the way the students' paper is facing them.

* Support students who need more help with following directions or with manipulating spatial relationships by marking landmarks on the paper with a pencil as you go around the classroom. You can make a dot at the point where two corners should meet, for example.

* Arrange the class in clusters and let students who have completed one fold assist other students. This will foster cooperative learning and help you address all students' questions.

Folding Fundamentals

* Make sure students fold on a smooth, hard, clean surface.

* Encourage students to make a soft fold and check that the edges line up properly to avoid overlapping. After they make adjustments, they can make a sharper crease using their fingernails.

* Have children unfold their origami projects to look at the interesting patterns and geometric figures they have created through their series of creases. Challenge them to create their own variations--and make their own diagrams showing how they did it.

Origami on the Web

www.origami.com A comprehensive site, with instructional videos

www.origami.net A clearinghouse for information on origami

www.paperfolding.com/math

Explores the math behind origami

www.mathsyear2000.org

Math-related origami projects with step-by-step instructions

Key to Using Origami Symbols

Fold

Crease

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Adapted from Origami Math, Grades 2-3 (Scholastic, 2004) by Karen Baicker. To order a copy of this book, call 1-800-SCHOLASTIC.