Origami Sightings - Education (Part 2)

Compiled by Janet Hamilton

Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades, 1905, 55 p. Includes samples of papers suggested for models, mostly non-origami geometric paper exercises. Sloyd -- or Slojd -- is a Scandinavian wood carving technique.

Nina Lerman, Uses of Useful Knowledge: Science, Knowledge, and Social Boundaries in an Industrializing City, Osiris 1997, pages 39-59, in talking about technical education in 19th century Philadelphia public schools, says, "manual training was adapted to the needs and circumstances of younger students and girls: cardboard construction, paper folding and cutting, sewing and cooking were added to the standard shopwork methods."  Sloyd, "a Swedish woodworking method" in which "each wooden object was referred to as a 'model,' which was chosen by the teacher. The students' task was to make careful copies. Variations on this system used paper and cardboard rather than wood, but in all cases each student produced an exact replica of the teacher's model."

Everett Schwartz, Sloyd or Educational Manual Training with Paper , Cardboard, Wood and Iron for Primary, Grammar, and High Schools (Boston: Educational Publishing Co. 1893).

Historian of science, Kathryn Olesko, stated that, in the 19th century, the great German optical manufacturer, Zeiss, used paper folding and wire bending exercises to test candidates for its precision mechanics training courses. The paper folding test was a strip of paper that had to be pleated into isosceles right triangles.

A Cornell University “Expanding Your Horizons” workshop on origami and symmetry was called Origami imagirO.  The workshop used origami to explore shapes, handedness, symmetry, and colorings to make objects that are the same, but different.

Thesis: The relationship between origami proficiency and field dependence/field independence, language placement, and gender : the diagnostic value of origami / by Richard Michael Dierkes

Thesis: Teaching with origami : specific techniques in developing cognitive skills / Author: Benjamin, Ranana. Published: Great Neck, NY : R.B. Ventures, c1981.

Thesis: The effects of field dependence/independence and visualized instruction in a lesson of origami, paper folding upon performance and comprehension / Author: Hozaki, Norio, 1953- Published: 1987.

The Medina Gazette on 7/27/2000 published an article called “Bugs, slugs help kids' proficiency” by Denny Sampson. The article is about a 2-week summer camp to help 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th grade kids with the school proficiency tests. The camp uses origami to teach geometric concepts and how to follow directions. Includes a photo with the following caption: “PHOTO: By MATTHEW HOVIS -- Jim Kryszan has some fun working on an origami butterfly at A.I. Root Middle School on Wednesday. Jim was part of a class that used the craft and others, to improve on proficiency test scores.”

The cover story for Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School (reported in February 2001) was about "Algebraic thinking through origami". The model shown is Baggi's Box from "Magic of Origami".  The article gives an example of how origami can be used in the classroom.

The school system in New Providence, New Jersey, sent out a report about the schools' Volunteerism Day (Nov 1, 2001). Among a great variety of activities, "foreign language classes in the high school and art classes in the middle school cooperated with Advanced Placement Japanese language class and made paper origami cranes. These internationally symbolic multi-colored cranes were affixed to a board, creating a mural with a message of peace. This mural was then sent to the Peace Museum in Hiroshima, Japan, for display."

8/2003 Oxford brand folders being sold during the “back-to-school” promotion, have directions to fold an  origami model on the inside pockets. So far 4 different models have been spotted: swan, dinosaur, and action-models, mouth and twirly-top.

A World Cultures textbook had a picture of a baseball game in Japan. The people in the bleachers were wearing red paper hats and waving yellow/gold pleated paper fans. Both appear to have been punched out of a flyer or program for the game. The hat is shaped like a graduation cap and appears to be at least two pieces joined by the tab into slot method.

“Origami has Calming Effect on Chemistry Instructor” An article on Tom Conally in the October 6, 2003 Alamance Community College Weekly Newsletter called “The Oracle”. http://www.alamance.cc.nc.us/news/oracles/oracles.pdf

From The Enquirer newspaper in Cincinnati, 1/20/04, “Extra training for young minds – Super Saturday: From origami to Shakespeare” about Saturday enrichment classes for gifted students age 4-14. One of the subjects offered is origami. http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/01/20/loc_loc2a.html
Chris McCullough shows a paper house to her Origami class. (Tony Jones photo)

A class is being offered Fall 2004 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) called Folding and Unfolding in Computational Geometetry, catalog number 6.885. The professor is Erik Demaine. The class overview states, "Folding offers a wealth of beautiful geometric and algorithmic problems. Recent results in this area have lead, for example, to powerful techniques for complex origami design. Other problems relate to how to fold robotic arms without collision, how to bend sheet metal into desired 3D shapes, and understanding protein folding. Despite much recent progress on folding problems, some of the most fundamental questions remain tantalizingly unsolved. This class covers the state-of-the-art in folding research, including a variety of open problems, enabling the student to do research and advance the field. The class includes guest lectures from visiting experts." http://theory.csail.mit.edu/classes/6.885/fall04/ 

4/14/04 Priority Designs created a line of Nike branded school binders for Mead called origami. "Based on the ancient japanese art of Origami, the binders and organizers fold and unfold to reveal hidden features and storage. This unique theme was carried throughout the product line creating a clean and original style." http://www.prioritydesigns.com/pdsite_2/pages/news_mead_nike.html 

Robert Lang was artist-in-residence at MIT from 11/11/04-11/17/04. He taught origami, and lectured on origami design and mathematics. http://web.mit.edu/spotlight/origami/ and http://web.mit.edu/arts/announcements/prs/2004/1029_lang.html . An article on the visit is here: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/origami-lang.html and http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2004/11/08/life/life01.txt 

4/2005 - A recent Santiago Canyon College list of summer classes includes: "Geometric Explorations (Grades 5, 6, 7)" and mentions "Explore shapes and symmetry through origami, string art, and tesselations."

University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida will be holding origami classes. (2005)

On 4/24/2002, the word of the day from A.Word.A.Day wordsmith.org was orihon. “orihon (OR-ee-hon) noun. A book or manuscript folded like an accordion: a roll of paper inscribed on one side only, folded backwards and forwards. [From Japanese, ori (fold), + hon (book).] Here's a picture of an orihon: http://www2.odn.ne.jp/reliure/imgs3/k_orihon.jpg Then there is origami [ori + -gami, kami (paper)], the Japanese art of paper folding that can coax a whole menagerie from a few flat sheets of paper."

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) 2005 Silver Medal was awarded to "Engineering & Science", the Caltech alumni magazine. The judges made their decision based on stories that ranged "...from an article on the math problems encountered when practicing origami to a piece on how ancient Greeks dug a two-sided tunnel through a mountain..." http://www.case.org/Content/COE/Display.cfm?CONTENTITEMID=5506Y http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXVII1/origami.html 

Prof Louis Cuccia of the Dept of Chemistry and Bio-chemistry at Concordia University, Montreal, runs a course called 'The Art and Science of Origami'.

The Southern Poverty Law Center provided a Teaching Tolerance grant to a special education class Tradewinds Middle School in Lake Worth, Florida, to purchase a classroom set of "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes", along with origami paper, instruction books, art supplies, and journals. Led by teachers Michael Berg and Jill Shadoff, the students became peace ambassadors, visiting other classes in the school to teach them origami, other aspects of Japanese culture, and the Sadako story. The project helped remove barriers between the special education and mainstream classes. http://www.splcenter.org/donate/donationsatwork/article.jsp?aid=24 

8/6/2006 - "Students, Parents Join In St John's [Brunei] Contest" By Cedrina Norlaila Abd Clark. St John's School conducted an Art and Craft competition aimed to encourage interactions between parents and their young children. Participants demonstrated their skills and knowledge in origami, flower arrangement and the making of greeting cards, among others. http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Aug06/190806/nite18.htm 

The Cape Fear Museum (North Carolina) offered an origami activity center as part of its "Flip It, Fold It, Figure It Out!" exhibit (ending September 4, 2006).

The way Northlight School "... used nature and origami to teach symmetry and other mathematical concepts can also help mainstream students find more relevance and make it engaging." http://www.todayonline.com/articles/142902.asp 

11/9/06 - MIT's home page today featured a model by Brian Chan titled "Mens et Manus" (Latin for "mind and hand", MIT's motto.) http://web.mit.edu/ http://web.mit.edu/spair/origami-2006.html A video showing how to make the model - http://chosetec.techtv.mit.edu:80/file/93/ 

The "Origeometria" Skills Center established by the Israel Center for Origami combines the study of geometry with the Japanese art of Origami thereby providing the pupils with an opportunity to experience and understand geometrical and multidimensional structures, improve their sense of perception and make this "dry" subject an enjoyable and pleasant experience. The program is aimed at reinforcing the material studied in the classroom and does not replace the standard curriculum. Teaching Origami is an excellent means of developing a variety of learning skills such as fine motor coordination, spatial perception, hand-eye coordination and logical thinking. The students taking the origami enrichment show greater improvement in math skills than students taking other enrichment curriculums. http://www.origami.co.il/ http://www.langorigami.com/science/4osme/abstracts/Miri_Golan_abstract.pdf  http://www.greenfusefilms.com/origametria.html http://www.israel21c.org:80/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El1529&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Culture 

12/20/2006 - "Kineton teachers' origami message - Kineton High School teachers and staff tried out origami to test their communication skills."  "The exercise was part of the school's 'communication friendly environment' project, which aims to make all ways of communicating, from sign language to lesson structures, more user-friendly for all involved. The origami sessions involved teachers being set a piece to complete but receiving different degrees of instruction and help, to encourage them to communicate in the clearest way." http://www.leamingtonspatoday.co.uk:80/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=691&ArticleID=1935917 

A frog folded from a "fill in the bubble" answer sheet appears on the Curriculum Associates website: http://www.curriculumassociates.com/ads/Passwords2006F.asp?source=bubble9 

1/17/2007 - "In the education process, paper folding is being used at several levels. CEVA, Chandigarh (Centre for Education and Voluntary Action) conducted a workshop for facilitating teaching-learning Geometry through paper folding for the students and teachers of The British School, Sector 8, Panchkula." http://cities.expressindia.com:80/fullstory.php?newsid=218082 

Michael LaFosse has a number of origami videos on http://www.activitytv.tv He teaches beginner to intermediate folds, including a duck, owl, wreath, puppy, penguin, and sailboat, etc. There are also paper airplanes listed in their own category (i.e. not as origami).

"Parenting / Hands-on science an experiment in education" by Maja Beckstrom, in the Pioneer Press. After observing some hopping origami frogs, "Mohamed and other kids in the after-school program at Torre de San Miguel Homes didn't realize it, but they had just learned about potential and kinetic energy. They're benefiting from an unusual program run jointly by the Science Museum of Minnesota and the low-income housing developer CommonBond Communities that trains and pays teenagers to bring simple science experiments back to their communities." http://www.twincities.com:80/mld/twincities/living/16760851.htm 

April 2007 - Norma Boakes is teaching “The Art and Math of Origami” at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. "Boakes, a former math teacher, did her doctoral dissertation on the use of origami in a middle school math classroom and has been interested in using origami as a way to make math more accessible and interesting to students. She has used origami in geometry classes at Oakcrest High School and tried it out with preschoolers as a lesson in shapes." http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/story/7457215p-7352279c.html 

Cook pupils endeavour to keep upbeat by Jessica Wright, in the Canberra Times, August 2, 2007. At the ceremony for the closing of Cook Primary School, "The school children wrote of their experiences at the school and hopes for the future on origami boats, which were lit by glow sticks and hung on a cluster of trees in the school's playground."

October 18, 2007 - Peg Cagle Margaret (Peg) Cagle was selected as one of 20 teachers for the 2007 USA Today All-USA Teacher Team. She teaches in the gifted/highly gifted magnet program at Lawrence Middle School in Chatsworth, Calif. She helps them make the leap from concrete elementary school math to geometric and algebraic abstraction through hands on activities which include origami! The announcement in USA Today included a photo of Peg with her geometry class, all holding various modular origami polyhedra, including some Tom Hull PhiZZ buckyballs. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-10-17-teacher-team_N.htm?csp=34 

January 15, 2008 in the Boston Globe, "College hopefuls get creative to a fault" by Linda K. Wertheimer. The article discusses "creative" enclosures to college application forms. "Two years ago, Tufts set itself up for some attempts at teenage ingenuity. A new optional essay question allows applicants to use an 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheet of paper to create something that shows their ability to be imaginative. The result: a flood of origami fortune tellers, those folded-up paper games that many children learn in elementary school." http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/01/15/college_hopefuls_get_creative_to_a_fault/?page=2 

February 2008 - Satyan L. Devadoss, associate professor of mathematics at Williams College Faculty, presented "Reclaiming DaVinci: Art, Visualization, Mathematics." The talk focuses on the merging of art and science in fields such as cartography, origami, and phylogenetics. http://iberkshires.com:80/story/25924/Devadoss-DaVinci-Decoded-The-Art-Science-Gap.html 

An experiment for biology classes is titled "Selection and Variation in the Egyptian Origami Bird". The introduction states, "In order to examine the random nature of mutations and natural selection, students breed clutches of Egyptian Origami Birds (Avis papyrus) using random number generators (dice and coins) to mutate several genetic loci: anterior and posterior wing position, wing width, and wing length. The birds are then released. Only those birds which can fly the furthest survive to produce offspring." and "The Egyptian Origami Bird (Avis papyrus) lives in arid regions of North Africa. It feeds on prom dates (Palmus juniorseniorus) and drinks from Palm Springs." http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/AEF/1995/westerling_selection.html 

The forth issue of Girls' Angle Bulletin, magazine for the Girls' Angle math club, features an article by Christine Edison, showing how she uses the Pythagorean theorem in her origami art.

Copyright © Janet Hamilton 2008

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