Photoshop+Elements+Project+-+Filmstrip

= Photoshop Elements - Applying Algebra to the Real World =

For this project, I wanted to find something that I could do that I could see myself actually using in the classroom. I came up with 3 worksheets - 2 that would be presented to students together that both related to speed and determining the equation of a person's path, and 1 that related to ratios, scales and proportions. (Note: I ran out of time getting the Eiffel Tower picture to look the way i wanted - i included what I have gotten so far so that others can edit it and use it if they want). Both of these topics are covered in Algebra I, although the speed worksheets could also be given to Algebra II students. I would probably incorporate these into an honors class first in order to fully gage how much difficulty students have with these worksheets. In order to incorporate Photoshop, I created a film strip of pictures which gave the appearance that the person taking the pictures is either walking towards or away from an object. I think that the pictures add a fun component to the speed worksheets and give students something "real" to measure for the ratio sheet.

The worksheets can be given to students in groups/pairs, assigned as an individual assignment, or the entire class could go through the problems together. The ratio/scale/proportion worksheet requires the use of rulers. I would give these worksheets in class so that we could come together and discuss our findings. I chose to create two worksheets with almost identical questions in order to demonstrate to students the way in which their equations must account for the direction of the person (going towards or away from the object). This subtle change can be easily overlooked or ignored by students, especially since they tend to work math problems in a formulaic manner. The ratio/scale/proportion worksheet easily leads into a discussion of rounding errors and the importance of accuracy, especially since students will be measuring objects that are small. When I give this worksheet in class, I plan on giving it to students in groups and then putting each group's answers up on the board. When the students notice that every group had different answers (as they almost certainly will have!), we can go into a discussion about how to get more accurate answers. The teacher could also give a piece of candy to the group whose numbers are the most accurate.

In this project, i used many different aspects of Photoshop Elements - the clone stamp, blurring, magic wand tool, lasso tool, layers, scaling, etc... While I was already familiar with Photoshop, the project stretched my knowledge by requiring that I remember how to do everything and learn how to scale pictures, which I had not done before. This project, in my opinion, presents a way of combining many of the main features of Photoshop into a single project that can be used in the classroom! While I borrowed the idea of the film strip from a website (listed below), the idea of connecting it with math was entirely mine. I also like how this project turned out because I can imagine that many people will not immediately see how to incorporate Photoshop and their subject area and I think that my project does a fairly good job of doing that.

__Speed and Equation of a Line__
[|Speed - Eiffel Tower worksheet.pdf] [|speed - Parthenon worksheet.pdf] The Eiffel Tower film strip - [|eiffel_tower_film_strip.jpg] The Parthenon film strip - [|parthenon_film_strip.jpg]

[|ratios - Parthenon worksheet.pdf] The Parthenon film strip - [|parthenon_film_strip.jpg] actual measurements of the Parthenon - [|Parthenon measure.pdf]

[|Teacher Notes.pdf] - Some notes about the worksheets

__**Resources/Notes**__ [|Instructions on how to make a filmstrip frame collage] Parthenon measurements were taken from their website: http://www.nashville.gov/Parthenon/Education-teachers.htm The picture of the Parthenon and the Eiffel Tower were taken by me. I also used a [|filmstrip picture] from the flying sam website, the Parthenon from wikimedia commons, and the Eiffel Tower [|sky picture] from morguefile.

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