On a Sunday afternoon that the family finally had a free moment, my wife took the family to the Woodson Art Museum to view the Walter Wick exhibition. Walter Wick is the photographic illustrator of the I SPY series, and the author/illustrator of the Can You See What I See? series. Besides see some amazing photography and reflecting on a bit of my own past, I had so many moments of game changing instructional opportunities. 
The first came from a pair of photos called Balancing Act, of which one is pictured at the right. The photo shows many objects seemingly placed at random all balancing on a single piece of LEGO. Mr. Wick mentions the process of getting everything to balance took over a week with much trial and error and several crashes along the way. What I saw was the amount of math that could be extracted and then performed from such a starting image. From 7th grade ratios and proportions to symmetry all the way through the upper levels of mathematics. What intrigues me the most is that almost every student will have objects similar to these sitting in their home.
Next to this photo was another called Sorting and Classifying from the I SPY School Days. From my experience teaching Geometry to planning earlier math lessons the concept of a Venn Diagram is not the easiest concept to grasp when applying it to mathematics. However, what if the class started with a photo of Sorting and Classifying followed by the simple question, "What is the purpose of the rings?" Instead of teaching students what the Venn Diagram is, allow students to discover its' purpose and what they sort in this situation.
The final photo that
I felt it was important enough to share is Mirror Maze. This photo is created by using mirrors in the shape of an equilateral triangle to make the maze. I sat in front of this photo for at least 15 minutes just following the reflections and identifying where I felt there could be inconsistencies while also looking for justifications of the inconsistencies. This is the type of thing that would make Geometry much more intriguing. The number of places it could fit in during the year is almost limitless.
I felt it was important enough to share is Mirror Maze. This photo is created by using mirrors in the shape of an equilateral triangle to make the maze. I sat in front of this photo for at least 15 minutes just following the reflections and identifying where I felt there could be inconsistencies while also looking for justifications of the inconsistencies. This is the type of thing that would make Geometry much more intriguing. The number of places it could fit in during the year is almost limitless.
All these are just pieces to a puzzle I have been trying to solve in my head and in the classroom for some time. Students have a limitless amount of stimulus throughout the day that take their attention away from the classroom. However, rarely do they find something that they could just stare at and be intrigued. The other piece to these photos is not only the depth of the mathematics but the access to many other levels of math. For example, most of a typical Geometry course could be made up with just these three photos and connecting the concepts between them.
My thoughts now settle on the art that I am missing to further enhance mathematics. On a side note and for our M.C. Escher enthusiasts. Check out Going Up and Tricky Triangle. These are not drawings, which often lead students to find M.C. Escher "cool" but not with the same curiosity as something real. These are photographs of real objects. Go ahead and find the intrigue.
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