Faith-based Teaching and Learning: Polygons

Andrew VanZytveld

At first blush, theres little relationship between Christianity and a unit on polygons. Of

course, teachers always have the opportunity to foster a supportive environment for their

students, where they can grow spiritually while mastering content. But there are nevertheless

ways to design curricula even in geometry units that at least gives students the opportunity to

grow both spiritually and academically, even if the effort is not as explicit as it might be in other

subject areas.

One way this takes shape is by encouraging students to collaborate and learn with one

another. 1 Corinthians 12:1, 21-22 famously describes how There is one body, but it has many

parts. But all its many parts make up one body 21 The eye cant say to the hand, I dont need

you! The head cant say to the feet, I dont need you! 22 In fact, it is just the opposite. The

parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we cant do without1. In the case of

classroom learning, this statement holds true while Paul refers to the interdependence of

people in the church, I think that to some extent any endeavor will reflect this principal. In

collaboration, both students who find doing school easy and hard benefit. Those who

naturally find it easy to do the activities that school requires may end up explaining concepts to

others and actually deepen their own understanding as they respond to questions. And those

who find school more difficult benefit by hearing explanations that are different (and

sometimes clearer!) than the teachers. This kind of shared learning is enabled in the polygons

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NIRV, from Bible Gateway
unit in at least two ways. First, students will complete a series of investigative activities which

are designed to guide students into arriving at formulas for areas of various shapes. And

second, students will answer some practice problems on whiteboards and compare their

answers with their neighbors, ideally discussing why any differences arose.

In addition, this unit is crafted to allow students to showcase their various gifts. God has

given each person gifts of various kinds. Students who are good at crafts will get the chance to

draw, cut, and reassemble various shapes. Students who excel at aesthetics can design unique

buildings (or, more precisely, the floorplans for them ). Students who are good at finding

solutions to unfamiliar problems will showcase these skills in proposing formulas for various

polygons during the exploration activities. And those who are good at precisely applying

formulas will employ that skill in traditional homework problems. This is not explicitly spiritual,

but it parallels the ideas of Romans 12: 6-8: Since we have gifts that differ according to the

grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, [f]according to the

proportion of his faith; 7 if [g]service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he

who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with [h]liberality; he who [i]leads, with diligence;

he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.2

Admittedly, I dont have any plans to talk about faith explicitly during this unit. Nor is it

perfect at using the many gifts that students bring into the classroom. But I hope this polygon

unit will give students the chance to try out some different activities, learn alongside one

another, and perhaps grow in unexpected ways.

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NASB, Bible Gateway