Ancient Africans in Egypt enlarged pictures by using nets of squares. In this fun project, students re-construct a smaller picture into a very large picture. In mathematics, we call this dilation which is a type of trasformation studied in geometry.

This is an activity I do with fourth graders and above. I first begin with a picture that I know the students will have fun re-constructing. Hence…Sponge Bob.

Depending on the number of students who will be working on one picture, I divide the picture into squares. Sometimes I work with 4-6 students on the picture, sometimes it’s the entire class. If one square has very little detail, I assign that square with another one so that one student may end up being responsible for two squares.

First in pencil and then using the crayons or colored pencils (be sure to have enough of the same colors for everyone to use), students design their work. The fun part is when we put all the pieces together.