Google
Sketch Up is a software that creates 3D models. This is a technology that can
develop a student’s higher-order thinking skills and creativity. Sketch Up
provides its users great tools for drawing 3D figures. This program can be used
to explore different mathematical concepts involving 3D images. It is difficult
to draw a 3D object on a sheet of paper. With Sketch Up teachers can show
students a 3D image and explore the mathematical concept right on the program
itself. If there is a Smart Board in the classroom, teachers can have students
come up to the board and explore the 3D image. The software can be very useful
in a math classroom for that main reason. In the past, teachers struggled with
explaining 3D figures to their students. As a student, it was very hard for me
to imagine a 3D image in my head and then having to figure out different
mathematical operations on that figure. It would have been very useful to have
a software, like Sketch Up, to help me visualize this better. If schools would
incorporate the use of Sketch Up in their classrooms, higher-level math classes
would benefit from it the most. I would not suggest having the software
installed in elementary classrooms and even middle school classrooms. It would
be more useful in a high school classroom.
Would
Google Sketch Up be beneficial in any of your classrooms?
I have never heard of Google Sketch Up before, but it sounds like a great tool. It is so difficult for us to teach about three dimensional figures because all students see is 2-d figures from middle school. It is often very difficult for students to wrap their mind about 3-d figures even tho that is all we see in real life. I am definitely going to look into this tool. I know how this would be integrated into the mathematics, but is it difficult to install and use? These are the questions that I and other teachers will explore. Good post!
ReplyDeleteAntonietta, I think this technology can have a big impact on your students, especially those students who feel that math is challenging for them. Applying three-dimensional images can bring two-dimensional images to life and can give a student a preferable perspective on using mathematical concepts. As an art major, I can see using this technology in a art classroom, where students can be introduce various ways of using 3D imagery to identify shapes and volumes. I'm curious as to why wouldn't it be recommended in elementary or middle schools?
ReplyDeleteOh man! This would have been great in my math classrooms! I was always awful at drawing 3D images, it would always be my down fall, i would try to draw something and end up just telling my teacher "This is suppose to be a pyramid". This would be great and super helpful for student, like myself, who cannot draw. While it would be great for teachers, i think it would be fabulous for students to use too.
ReplyDeleteAntonietta, I think that this is a great resource for math teachers! I agree to with Amanda and wish that I had that in my math classes in high school! I have never been able to really grasp math as easy as some others in my class, and I bet that if I had a resource like this, it would have really helped me! Visualization is a great tool that can help anybody in any subject! Unfortunately I don't think that this technology would help me as a French major, but it sure would have helped me in high school and even college as a math student! That is a great tool that I think should be used in math classes everywhere!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could go back to my math classes in high school and try this out. I was always good at math until the three dimensional figures appeared and it was all down hill from there. Maybe if Sketchup was used I'd be a Math major right now. LOL. I was always too frustrated trying to get the image right that I would have little to no time to do actual math. This should definitely be incorporated into math classrooms as many students experience this same problem.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really useful piece of technology. I would be curious to find ways of incorporating it into a music classroom. If music and math collaborated maybe the students could be assigned a 3D musical instrument object to investigate. I cad definitely see the benefits of this program for high level math students and teachers
ReplyDeleteMathematica also has this functionality but costs money to use if you're not a student. With Google's sketch up these 3D functions come to life with just a quick input and are readily available to manipulate and explore. This is definitely something I will keep in mind if I ever teach a Calc 3 class.
ReplyDeleteHello Antonieta, I also like Google sketch up as a tool for art making.
ReplyDeleteThe students could understand perspective from 360. In art we can teach about linear perspective in with the use of one point perspective, two points perspective and three points perspective.
With Google sketch up you can get the understanding of rising or lowering the horizon line and getting all the perspectives simultaneously… a birds eye view (aerial), worm’s eye view, (looking at an image from the bottom up) and a street level, or eye level view.
I don't see this software being particularly helpful in an English classroom, but it sounds so cool nonetheless. I always struggled with math because I couldn't conceptualize something that I couldn't visualize. This tool would have greatly helped students like me! For math and art majors, I imagine this is a revolutionary tool. Maybe through some cross curriculum lesson planning, I could figure out a way to implement this into a lesson plan in the future. Great post!
ReplyDelete