Big Stats test tomorrow – students are getting antsy, lots of movement happening with review and reflection. Today was a good day to step back, think about the role of numbers in society and appreciate some intriguing artwork.
Chris Jordan is a photographic artist whose works “Running the Numbers – an American Self-Portrait” cause you think of the largeness of our world, and the amount of waste we create. His website contains a number of fascinating pieces which zoom to reveal a statistic about our society’s wastefullness. It’s an awesome experience, and we started class today by discussing a number of the pieces and the large numbers they represent. There were a number of “whoa” moments as the composition of each picture was revealed, and I read the helpful statistic attached to each work. Based on the size of each piece, there are some great estimation discussions to be had here as well. It’s statistics – it’s art – world are colliding in a cool way!
Chris’s TED Talk “Turning Powerful Statistics Into Art” can also be shared with classes to learn more about the message of these pieces.
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