Mary Smale’s recent book, Math Drawings, not only promises to broaden the students’ concepts of math and art, it delivers on this promise in a most entertaining way. She has followed the lead of Leonardo da Vinci, who combined Math and Art over five-hundred years ago. The book contains five pictures, titled Tin Cans, City by the Sea, Roman Arches, Country Road and The Eagle. To ensure the student’s success, the pictures are introduced in the form of five math lessons using art. Each lesson begins with the math (geometry) vocabulary that will be illustrated over and over again until the drawing is complete. Each step in the drawing has its own page with the most current line/s highlighted. By the time a student completes Math Drawings, s/he will have heard the vocabulary words, seen them, drawn them and internalized them scores of times. The book is tailored for teachers and parents of homeschooled students from 4th grade through high school.

A valuable bonus of Math Drawings lies in the fact that teachers and homeschoolers may integrate the lessons to make a greater impact. For instance, while the math/art teacher is having his/her students draw the Tin Cans, the history teacher could use his/her time to delve into the fascinating history of the tin can. Likewise, the science teacher could be investigating the forces at work during the canning process, and the health teacher could be working concurrently with the others, investigating the health concerns of canning.

However one chooses to use the book, you’ll agree that the best way to teach is to make the lessons meaningful, fun, and “hands-on”.