Creating Colours Using Ratios

More Transdisciplinary Learning with Ratios

We blended mathematical, scientific and visual art learning today.

One of our maths wonderings from the children was how we use ratios in real life situations.  To help with this, I thought about mixing paint colours.

We began by discussing what primary colours are and why they are the primary colours.  A few of us knew things like: all other colours can be made from them or that we can't make those colours from other colours.

Using primary colours we used cotton buds to create secondary colours.

Eg,    1 part blue : 1 part yellow made green

         4 parts blue : 1 part yellow made 'sinister blue' (we made creative 
                                                         names for the colours we created)

After creating secondary colours, we then learnt that tints are colours with white added.

We created tints, recorded the ratios and gave them creative names too.

With the tints, some of us made a new discovery:  we can have more than two values (numbers) in a ratio.

Eg,    One student made 'willow creek green'   

                  2 parts blue  :  1 part yellow  : 4 parts white

(Sample: inner circle - primary colours, mid circle secondary and outer tints and shades

After that, we were introduced to shades which are any colour with black added.

Again, we made ratios and names for our new colours.

Our reflections included things like:

° I never knew ratios could be so fun.

° I discovered that you can have more than two values in a ratio.

° I wonder if we can use decimals or fractions in a ratio.

° I discovered we can have equivalent ratios.  I did this by creating a colour with a ratio of 3 : 4 : 1.  I was then able to make the same colour but a larger amount using the same ratio. 

° I learnt that maths exists even in art and painting!

° This made me wonder if professional artists use ratios like we did when they paint.

° This made me think that paint factories must use ratios when they make paint.

° This made me realise that I am loving maths more and more this year.

This was a fun and engaging way to introduce ratios and helped some conceptual understandings.  In future enquiries, we will be able to refer back to our paint mixing ratios as a helpful reference point if we struggle with more abstract aspects involving with ratios.