Blog Post #14: Dancing Euclidian Proofs

Watching this video, what I stopped to think about right away was the beauty of the nature around them and how they were able to use that to teach Euclidian proofs in an artistic and creative way. I find that the involvement of nature is an excellent learning aid. Even in my other two classes about Kindergarten curriculum and Kindergarten classroom environments, we see that the more children (and even adults!) can explore and use natural learning materials, the better they retain and understand the information, and the more inquiry and imagination is involved! Nature can be a beautiful tool when used for learning all sorts of subjects, but I especially enjoyed it in the way they used it. The sticks and rocks are accessible to everyone which makes it wonderfully repeatable by those watching from home!

I also appreciate the physical movement used to demonstrate these proofs. I didn't have a chance to come up with and present my own physical proof using my body because I was absent from the class before. However, it was clear after watching the other groups present and watching this video, and reading the text that the visual movement makes more sense than "seeing it on a page" as stated by Sam Milner. This makes it feel more relatable and more visual and kinesthetic which I feel can help learners who are less inclined to learn auditorily or by reading. By practicing the dances of Euclidian proofs, we can aid our memories. It's no secret that when we act something out physically we create more neural pathways to that proof, allowing us to remember it better. I think this is a beautiful way of portraying and teaching proofs of all kinds and that they did a wonderful job!