Explore, Learn, Create

What happens when you blur the lines between art and math? Ask MIT professors Eric and Marty Demaine and you will find that you use complex calculus and geometry to create beautiful pieces. Give them the chance to interact with and inspire high school students, and your possibilities are endless. Did you know you can create literally any shape from a piece of paper by folding it flat and making one single cut? Now, Kearny High School students do! 

In their experiences in the E2E lab, they saw this “magic” or MATH trick performed before they tried it themselves. Students created swans, stars, turtles, and butterflies with one straight-line cut. But the fun didn’t stop there, they also created pop-art, curved creases, and hyperbolic paraboloids. Students even experimented with combining multiple hyperbolic paraboloids to create inventive shapes.

 All of this work was inspired by the Demaines who were in San Diego this week hosting an international initiative that used webcams to stream to the other sites. As Kearny students watched the live feeds at an architecture school in Tijuana and the Humanities building at USD, they interacted with USD students in the E2E lab and most importantly gained a better understanding of math principles involved with making some pretty amazing art. Thank you to USD for partnering with us on this international series of events! Who says math can’t be fun?!