PLIX Beautiful Symmetry Co-Design.
Team : Public Library Innovation Exchange; Alex Berke (MIT Media Lab)
All learning materials for Inflatables are freely available (and remixable) on the PLIX activity repository, here.
Beautiful Symmetry is a creatving learning program for public library audiences that ecourages playful exploration of mathemetics using different types of Symmetry. Based on the MIT press coloring book by Alex Berke, prompts for this activity encourage patrons to explore symmetry across disciplines and mediums, including creative computing, stamp-making, architecture/sculpture, and mosaics.
In the development of this project, we spearheaded the initial co-design process with two librarians--this series of forum posts outlines how we took the concept of Beautiful Symmetry and translated it into a series of open-ended, creative learning prompts. Thereafter, we led a beta-testing process to gather more feedback on the program before larger-scale implentation in public libraries across the US: more on that here. Happy exploring!
Same project by one of our librarian beta-testers, putting up-cycled computer parts to good use!
An exploration of symmetry in sea creatures, created by the patrons of a PLIX community librarian:
As part of Beautiful Symmetry, learners explore symmetry across contexts--even in the digital realm! Here’s a sample project that remixes a Scratch project to create snow-flake inspired symmetries:
Beautiful Symmetry beta-testing team--public library professionals from across the US!
