Mathematical Model of Me
In the Mathematical Model of Me project, we (quite obviously) had to create a mathematical model of us. A mathematical model is a model, or image, described through mathematics. The purpose of this project was to learn about coordinate planes, x- and y-values, points, line segments, etc, but also to learn a bit more about each other. The images that we chose to graph had to be meaningful to us in some way. To create this project, we had to trace a real life image onto a piece of graph paper with a coordinate plane. We then had to translate all of the points (x- and y-values that, together, correspond to a specific spot on a coordinate plane) and line segments onto a program called GeoGebra. Lastly, we had to recreate that image in another medium. This is the original image that I chose to use. It's a picture of a Nasturtium that I took in my backyard.
After choosing our images, we had to translate them to graph paper. First, though, we had to trace the lines that we wanted to keep. Originally, I wanted a good portion of the leaves and the flower, but I was a bit ambitious with that. I was only actually able to make the largest leaf and the flower. Here is what my piece of graph paper that I used to plan looked like:
After this, we had to translate all of the points to GeoGebra. To do this, we had to use the Graphics, Spreadsheet, and a bit of the Algebra tools in the program. To do anything on GeoGebra, we had to first enter the x- and y-coordinates into the Spreadsheet view. The spreadsheet view acts very similarly to the spreadsheet in Google Drive, although there are ways in which it is linked with the the Graphics view that separate it from Google spreadsheet. One of those functions is being able to "Create Polyline." To do this, you need to have, and select (by holding down the right mouse button inside of the first box, then dragging it to the inside of the last one) at least two x-values, and two y-values, their own boxes next to their corresponding "partner's" box. Once you have the desired coordinates selected, click the drop down menu under the "{1,2}" symbol, then select the "Create Polyline" tool. Here is my image once the GeoGebra portion was complete.
Lastly, we had to make the final GeoGebra picture into a creative piece. There were many ideas thought up for the creative piece, but I chose to color mine in using colored pencils. I also put red, green, and orange paper behind it.