As a culminating project for their unit on proportional reasoning, Middle School math students were challenged to create a large-scale collaborative mural of GFA’s Centennial logo. Students took inspiration from artist Chuck Close, who is known for his innovative conceptual portraiture, depicting his subjects by gridded compositions.
Students began by solving proportion-based problems, using the skills they developed throughout the unit to understand how scaling works in practice. They then applied this knowledge by enlarging a small section of an image—translating a 1/2-inch square of the original image onto a 3-inch square before placing it on the larger mural. With each new piece, the full image gradually took shape, revealing the final design, day by day, as more squares were added.
This interdisciplinary project not only deepened students' understanding of proportional reasoning but also fostered collaboration across multiple classes. As they worked toward a shared goal, students experienced the excitement of seeing their individual efforts contribute to a larger, unified creation. Talk about Each for All!
Watch a timelapse video of the project here!