Year 6 - Mathematical elements in art

In Maths, Year 6 children have explored the mathematical elements within the artwork of the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, often known as the first abstract artist. He felt that he could express feelings and music through colours and shapes through his paintings. For example, he thought that yellow had the crisp sound of a brass trumpet and that certain colors placed together could harmonise like chords on a piano. The shapes he was most interested in were the circle, triangle, and the square.

Recent practical geometry work has focused on deriving a value for pi and the children have been using a pair of compasses to create geometric patterns. They have also been used to construct triangles given specific measurements. Their work has culminated in their own work, inspired by the work of Kandinsky. Their cross-curricular work has helped them appreciate that art is open to interpretation. Their own work has followed a modern day theme or issue. Some children have expressed issues of climate change and deforestation; others have explored the theme of space and used shapes to show black holes. The artwork as well as the dialogue explaining the themes that have been expressed have been very effective indeed.