Miller GT
Awesome Origami Edition!
Welcome to the newsletter of the Gifted and Talented classes of the Miller School! This newsletter will be published periodically throughout the year, and you will find information about all of the fantastic activities we do with our students. We will also post upcoming events and important dates at the bottom along with links to each of our web pages.
This edition will focus on the Origami and Modular Origami learning unit for our 5th grade GT students! As you read, you will be introduced to the unit, see how our 5th graders interpreted and tackled it, and get a look at their creations! Enjoy!
While we strive to include as many students and their work as possible, we cannot promise to get everyone in to each issue. Thank you for your understanding!
Having a Whale of a Time!
Origami is the art of folding paper. However, there is a whole lot more to it as the students have discovered! They began the unit by learning about the math aspects of origami. While creating a shape that ended up being a whale, students discovered the variety of triangles and quadrilaterals that were created in the folding. Their next step was to learn about Platonic and Archimedean solids. After that, they chose partners and were introduced to the project details. With this, they had to choose a topic and create a themed display that incorporated at lease six pieces of completed origami from each group member.
Folding Frenzy!
Continuing with their origami unit, the students chose a particular theme and tackled the task of creating a minimum of six original pieces of origami to be used in it. Besides their individual pieces of origami, they worked with one or two others. Once completed, the students had to create a display for their pieces and install them to tell a story. Students needed to use problem solving skills, as well as a variety of mathematical applications such as measurement and estimation, to create symmetrical, geometric shapes from a piece of paper.
Display Construction
Origami Displays
- Snow White
- Oceans
- Forests
- Carnival
- Dragons and Knights
- Cityscape
- Swamp
- Farm
- Winter Wonderland
- McDonalds
- Space
- Lake
- Ice Age: The Movie
- The Zoo
- Star Wars
- Harry Potter's Forbidden Forest
- Christmas
- Super Mario
- Animal Garden
The Ultimate Modular Origami Project
Now that the students were comfortable with origami, they moved on to modular or unit origami. This type of origami is a paper-folding technique which uses two or more sheets of paper to create a larger and more complex structure than would not be possible using single-piece origami techniques. Each individual sheet of paper is folded into a module, or unit, and then modules are assembled into an integrated flat shape or three-dimensional structure by inserting flaps into pockets created by the folding process. These insertions create tension or friction that holds the model together. Students learned how to fold a Sonobe unit and then chose three pieces to make. Though many found this difficult, in the end, they, and we, were all proud of the work they accomplished!
The Ultimate Modular Origami Project Video
After completing their modular origami pieces, each student was tasked with creating a video to present their pieces. They were asked to introduce their project, identify their three pieces and show them from all sides to show the precision of their folds and construction of each shape. To finish off the video, students were asked to share their thoughts on the project: what did they like , what, if anything, would they change, and did they think any areas needed improvement. Check out some of their presentations below!