Each Spring, the Middle School students in Mrs. Knoblauch’s Math Elective class create a Geometry Inflatable – a structure made entirely of plastic sheeting and duct tape, inflated using a small fan. This inflatable project provides students the opportunity to apply the algebra and geometry they learn in their math classroom in a way that is purposeful and helps students to appreciate the powerful tool that is mathematics.
This year, Mrs. Knoblauch and her students created a Math Museum featuring portraits of important math minds, some well-known, like Pythagoras, Pascal and Archimedes, and others not so well-known, such as Katherine Johnson, Sophie Germain and Maryam Mirzakhani. The intention was to show St. Luke’s students that important contributions have been made (and will be made) by great math minds from all backgrounds and both genders. The museum was 10 feet wide, 20 feet long, and was 13 feet tall. To accompany the inflatable math museum, the group also created a music video (featured below) that explains how God wrote the world with math and how God’s fingerprints are visible throughout His creation.