Ashleigh Joseph

2096130

Connecting Numeracy and the Curriculum: Visual Art

Description of numeracy and mathematics

There seems to be a certain amount of devision and ambivalence between people as to what
the definition of numeracy is. Some sources state that it is a component of literacy and that is
is the ability to use mathematical skills in an everyday context (Beech: 2008. pg. 1966) and
others simply define it as the foundation skills taught in schools before more intermediate
Maths classes (National Numeracy: 2014). For the proposes of this essay I will be using the first
definition; believing that being numerate means having the capability and the inclination to use
a set of skills that assist you through school, work, hobbies, personal and everyday life - its
about making sense of any situation and acknowledging that maths will be of use there (Perso:
2011. pg. 32). Examples of this are: being able to understand and evaluate statistics
(presented to you by companies, advertisers or politicians), having the ability to use estimation
in a range of situations (time, distance, etc), managing a financial budget, and working out how
much money youll save at a 25% off sale. So you can see that most people are using
numeracy skills in their every-day lives without even releasing it, or making a conscious
decision to do so. Mathematics however, is more conscious than numeracy, as it takes more
education and skill to master it at an advanced level. Chang-Goo Park (2010) broadly defines
mathematics as the science of numbers (pg. 14) as well as the study of patterns and
relationships, motion and change, shape and space (pg. 15). Maths as a topic is so broad it
crosses into many other subjects in the curriculum.
Discussion of numeracy across the curriculum
Numeracy skills used in Maths and Science classes are obvious, but even subjects that arent
numbers and equations based still use numeracy. For example: students in Home Economics
may need to divide a recipe to half the amount people needing to know how to divide threequarters of a cup of sugar in half, etc (Hogan: 2012. Ph. 10). Students in a History class are
asked to create a graph measuring the number of casualties in World War Two and their
country of origin. A student in a design class needs to use pi to figure out the radius of their
waistline circumference to make a circle skirt with an elastic waistband. Without learning the
fundamentals of numeracy skills during early and middle schooling, students are set at a
disadvantage to excel in other topics across the curriculum. In fact, ACARA lists English,
Maths, Science, History, Geography, Economics and Business, Civics and Citizenship, Digital
Technologies, Design Technologies, Health and Physical Education, Chinese, French,
Indonesian, and Italian as all the subjects that have numeracy as a general capability in years
nine and ten (ACARA: 2014). This proves that numeracy skills aren't just for the students that

want to chose Maths in the senior school years and/or go on to choose a mathematical based
territory education and career, but for basically everybody and anybody who participates in any
of the above subjects. However, Anthony Rebora claims that there is disconnect between
maths teachers and some students, stating that enthusiasm for numeracy wont necessarily
help students make connections between the maths that they practice in class and how they
can use those numeracy skills in other subjects and real life (2013. pg. 7). Maths teachers
need to re-think the way they teach, and be more creative in their lesson plans, so struggling
students can recognise the relevance in the subject matter (pg. 8).

Identification of numeracy requirements in your learning area AND Description of mathematics

skills and concepts required in learning area
Interestingly enough, Visual Arts was not included in ACARAs list of subjects that had
numeracy general capabilities. I argue that Visual Arts does in fact include numeracy skills.
Although there seems to be a divide between the Mathematical subjects and the Arts subjects
(they tend to attract different kinds of people and value different skill traits: Maths being more
logical, rational, and strategic, and the Arts valuing creativity, expression, and emotion).
However, in order to master both the basics of art and some of the specialised techniques, you
must use numeracy skills. Art teachers begin teaching year eight students thinking of them as
a blank slate assuming they know nothing about art and creative techniques. So just as a
reception teacher would encourage children to memorise different shapes (square, circle,
rectangle, triangle, etc), a year eight art teacher will begin by asking students to draw shapes
and shade shapes from light to dark with a pencil to make them look three-dimensional.
Students will then go on to learn about space in the context of distance and perspective. They
will be taught that if an object is further in to the distance, it appears proportionately smaller
then objects in the foreground. Also that if you follow the lines (windows and roof of a
building, for example) of a picture they will all meet at the vanishing point as they recede into
the distance. This basic geometry forms the basis of an intro to art class. Students will then
start to learn about colour mixing and theory which include ratios: 1 x blue + 1 x yellow =
green. All art students need to understand different forms of measurement, for example: size
(height and width), scale, time, length, and volume. By the end of a few years of Art
education students will also have an
understanding of how patterns and repetition
manifest in art, for example tessellation,
Islamic art, etc (NSW Government: 2011).
Design of numeracy plan
Class:
Unit Title:

Mathematics in Art

Year Level:

Visual Art

Connections with Cross Curriculum Priorities and General Capabilities if using AC:
Literacy
Information and communication technology capability
Critical and creative thinking
Personal and social capability
Numeracy
Goal:
For students to understand the numeracy and art skills involved in creating an optical illusion.
Essential Questions:
How is an optical illusion created?
What skills are you using to create an optical illusion?
How does the optical illusion trick the brain?
Student objectives:

Students will gain skills in research and research presentation.

Students will be able to effective draw and understand one, two and three-point perspective.
Students will understand how numeracy and art come together.
Students will understand and have the ability to create their own optical illusions.
Prior knowledge and experience:
In the previous year the students began with drawing and shading geometric shapes with
different shades of pencils. They also completed a colour theory and painting task. Theyve
learnt about composition and visual harmony during a collage unit.
The unit will cover the following:

Maths and Numeracy in art

Fibonacci spiral
Formula
Place in nature
Perspective (drawing cubes)
One-point perspective
Two-point perspective
Three-point perspective
Optical illusions and tessellation
Famous artists that produced optical illusion art

 M.C. Escher
Salvador Dali
Pablo Palazuelo
John Robinson
Class activities:

During classes the teacher will introduce the theory behind each subtopic and use
appropriate example images on the Smart Board.

After each double lesson the students will do homework research into each component of the
unit and provide evidence of this in their Art books (pasted pictures and small sections of
text).

They will be asked to produce sketches of a Fibonacci spiral, cubes in three different
perspectives, and a rough example of a tessellation.
Materials needed:
Students should already have:

A3 sketch book
30cm ruler
Pencils
Eraser
Scissors
Glue
Classroom equipment:

Smart board
Printer
black cardboard
Assessments/Evidence of learning:
The students overall grade will be divided into two sections. Fifty percent will be their back up
research, presented neatly in their Art books and their preliminary sketches. The other fifty
present will be their final optical illusion, finished off neatly and mounted on black cardboard.

Design of

classroom activity

Lesson plan:
During

this unit the students have studied maths and numeracy in art,
and perspective. During this lesson the teacher will introduce
optical illusions to the class by showing pictures of art works by
M.C. Escher, Salvador Dali, Pablo Palazuel and John Robinson on the

Smart

Board, and pointing out ways in which the artist has created or

manipulated the imagery to confuse the brain. The teacher The students will then be
instructed to find an optical illusion in a book or on the internet, using their iPads, the school
computers, or the internet. They will next identify their chosen images characteristics focusing on how it tricks the viewer. And lastly attempt to mimic it. The finished art piece will
be framed neatly with black cardboard.
Conclusion
It is evident that sources debate the definition of Numeracy, however the majority of them
conclude that it is the practice of applying mathematically skill in everyday life. It is made
clear by the information provided by Hogan and ACARA that numeracy skills are used in almost
every subject in the Australian Curriculum, although Visual Arts was not included in this list.
This essay gave a brief overview of the mathematically skills applied in Visual Arts, so it is
unfortunate that ACARA does not recognise these skills. The essay also provided an example
of a whole unit of work dedicated to Maths in Art, ending with an assessment piece that would
encourage students to use numeracy skills. Concluding that numeracy is in fact prevalent in
art.

References:

ACARA. (2014). Curriculum Browser. Available: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Browse?

layout=1&browseLayout=2&a=E&a=M&a=S&a=H&a=G&a=ENB&a=CNC&a=da&a=dr&a=ma
&a=mu&a=va&a=DI&a=DE&a=HPE&a=CH&a=FR&a=IN&a=IT&y=9&y=10&c=2. Last
accessed 17th September.
Beech, B, et al. (2008). Low Numeracy Skills Are Associated With Higher BMI. Obesity. 16 (8),
1966-196.
Hogan, J. (2012). Mathematics and numeracy : is there a difference?.Australian Mathematics
Teacher. 68 (4), 8 - 11.

National Numeracy. (2014). What is Numeracy. Available:

http://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/what-is-numeracy/index.html. Last accessed 18th September.
NSW Governement. (2011). Numeracy in the Creative Arts. Available:
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/primary/creativearts/crosscurriculum/numerac
y/index.htm. Last accessed 19/09/2014.
Park, C-G. (2010). Mathematics or numeracy? An ongoing debate..Teaching Mathematics. 35 (1),
14 - 9.
Perso, T. (2011). Assessing numeracy and NAPLAN. Australian Mathematics Teacher. 67 (4), 32 34.