Origami. Another way of mixing art with geometry

Hello my creative bloggers! This is my last entry and today I wanted to share with you something really special to me because it reminds me to my childhood.

We’re going to look at an artistic activity that can be used in the classroom or at home to learn more about geometry through a hands-on activity. This activity is called origami, and I’m sure many of you are already familiar with it. Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper to create shapes without using scissors or glue. The benefits of origami in maths education allow pupils to develop their level of abstraction, geometric thinking and aesthetic sense, as by using theorems and axioms specific to geometry, it enables the creation of simple shapes, the construction of lines and the design of three-dimensional models (Mejía & Prada, 2008). Furthermore, this art form offers numerous other benefits, such as stress reduction, improved concentration and the development of fine motor skills in schoolchildren. 

According to a quasi-experimental study involving Year 2 pupils, the experimental group, which worked with origami, achieved a high level of attainment in 80% of cases, compared to 89% of the control group, which remained at the starting level. The results conclude that origami, as a teaching technique, is effective for learning geometric shapes and elements (Quispe Masco, 2022). 

Figure 1

Origami

Note: Recovered from https://geometriamagicomundodelorigami.wordpress.com/ 

Modular origami is a paper-folding technique that involves folding multiple identical pieces of paper, or ‘modules’, and joining them together to form a three-dimensional shape. Unlike traditional origami, it does not use a single sheet of paper, and the pieces interlock without the use of glue or scissors. Modular origami provides a framework for activities centred on polyhedra with pentagonal and hexagonal faces, demonstrates methods for constructing modules, and enables pupils to conduct their own investigations into the geometric properties of these shapes in geometry lessons (Reyes Iglesias & Barrantes López, 2004). 

To explain the origami process in the classroom—which may initially seem somewhat complicated for children to carry out—resources such as instructional videos can be used, allowing pupils to see the process of creating a figure in close-up, whilst the teacher pauses the video at each step to ensure they are doing it correctly. Here is an example of an instructional video on modular origami for children.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrIm5AE8xMs 

Alternatively, you can use pre-folded templates instead of loose sheets of paper. This is a good way to get started in the world of origami. Modular origami involves constructing geometric shapes by joining small pieces of paper called modules. Each module is folded from a square of paper and features flaps and pockets that allow it to be fitted together with others without the need for glue. The best known in the classroom is the Sonobe module: with just six of these pieces, a cube is formed; with twelve, an octahedron; and with thirty, an icosahedron, always using the same template. Thus, with a single folding pattern, children can explore a whole family of geometric solids (Aomatos, n.d.) Origami is not just folded paper: it is geometry in children’s hands. Through its modules, folds and assemblies, pupils touch, construct and understand concepts such as angles, symmetries and polyhedra, which would otherwise be reduced to abstract definitions. Incorporating it into the primary classroom does not require significant resources, just paper, patience and a desire to learn by doing.

References

Aomatos. (s.f.). Sonobes. http://www.aomatos.com/creatividad/sonobes1.html 

Mejía & Prada (2008). El origami como recurso didáctico para la enseñanza de la geometría. Repositorio Funes, Universidad de los 

Andes.https://funes.uniandes.edu.co/funes-documentos/el-origami-como-recurso-didactico-para-la-ensenanza-de-la-geometria/ 

Quispe Masco, A. L. (2022). El origami para la enseñanza y aprendizaje de las figuras y elementos geométricos en niños de tercer ciclo. Revista Latinoamericana Ogmios, 2(3), 52–63. https://doi.org/10.53595/rlo.v2.i3.023 

 Reyes Iglesias, N., & Barrantes López, M. (2004). Buckiedros, geometría del espacio y origami modular. Educación Matemática, 16(1), 169–194.