Students Make Mathematical Masterpieces with Desmos

Upper School Advanced Algebra II students have created a variety of art works currently on display in the Harris Center Atrium.

Students produced these artfully plotted pieces using Desmos, online math software that allows users to create and modify visual representations of mathematical formulas or graphs.

Teachers in the Math Department like to integrate the tool into assignments throughout the year to help students visualize the concepts they are exploring in the classroom in an engaging and intuitive way. 

The pieces on display are the products of a project that teacher Wendy Olt assigned, asking students to use Desmos to create a final image consisting of at least four different mathematical functions they had learned in class throughout the year. That prompt elicited an array of creative solutions, ranging from images of Modern Family’s Stewie Griffin to Munch’s Scream, Homer Simpson to Pokémon and nearly everything in between.

Students wrote precise mathematical equations with domain and range restrictions to create the images. To do so, they looked at each curve in the drawing and identified which type of equation they had learned to best model each curve. Next, they found the exact numbers necessary for that specific equation. To create some of the more complex images, students wrote hundreds of original equations, rather than the four the assignment required!

Be sure to swing by the Harris Center Atrium to enjoy this student work and learn more about the mathematical functions undergirding each image. 

Enjoy a sampling of student Desmos creations and the complex math functions they comprise here.