Size Wise - NYSCI

Explore ratios and proportions while making funny pictures that make things look wildly bigger and smaller than they really are.

Educators can inspire learners to explore and use mathematical concepts from coordinate geometry, angles, rotations and translations as they make animations from simple dance moves to complex scenes. Sign up for a free educator account to access lesson plans, inspirations, and join a community of educators making inspiring learning experiences with Noticing Tools.

Size Wise - one of a suite of five Noticing Tools(™) from the New York Hall of Science - was inspired by forced perspective photography to learn and explore math. Ratios, proportions, measurements, and data have never been this fun!

Size Wise uses “forced perspective” photography to invite kids to reason proportionally—if they want to make something appear half as big on the screen, they need to place it twice as far away. Measurement, data, and writing functions in the tool help you create their own forced perspective photographs while manipulating and noticing ratios and proportions that connect the size of the images on the screen with their distance from the camera.

With Size Wise you can:

* Take pictures with virtual props, arranging your subjects in the perfect spot for the effect you want.
* Use calipers to measure the height of an image and compare it to the height of the real thing.
* Print out real life props - Stick Pics - that the camera automatically recognizes and tracks.
* Use the distance meter and the ratio tools to collect information and help you plan future shots.
* Create comics with your pictures, and share the math behind your shots.

Ideal for middle and high school classrooms, Size Wise and accompanying curriculum activities address Common Core Math Standards (CCSM) by integrating content, mathematical practices, and delight! Online professional development courses are also available in October 2015 - learn more at http://noticing.nysci.org

Size Wise is one of five Noticing Tools (TM) from the New York Hall of Science. The full suite includes Choreo Graph, Fraction Mash, Playground Physics, and Volumize.

Noticing Tools were developed in collaboration with Local Projects, an award-winning media design firm based in New York. http://localprojects.net/