My students adore Vi Hart videos. I think the kids understand maybe 1/2 of what she is saying, but she makes math fun and stimulates their curiosity.
“Parable of the Polygons” is an interactive website that was created by Vi Hart and Nicky Case. Having watched several Vi Hart videos, I expected the site to do one of the things Vi does best – teach me math. But I was mistaken. “Parable of the Polygons” uses math to teach about racism, sexism, (and all of the other negative”isms”) and what we can do to help eradicate them.
I innocently played each activity trying to make happy polygons until I realized that I, a self-proclaimed non-racist, have had probably zero effect in persuading others to be less biased. Using math, I learned that, unless more of us make an effort to seek out more diverse colleagues and friends, there is little chance things will change.
This is definitely an activity that I will be doing with my students and I hope to make some changes in my life based on what I learned. From now on, this little square is going to be on the lookout for opportunities to meet more triangles 🙂