Stained Glass Window Project - during our symmetry chapter, geometry students chose a mandala, colored it, made a frame for it and wrote a paper describing the imagery, colors and geometry present.  Excerpts are below.

Spirit of the Fish by D.L 2004
“..the orange shows the energy and excitement of the fish. The yellow shows that the fish have a free spirit (with) little to worry about. The light green shows the life and nature that the fish have. The dark blue fish swimming to the center shows the freedom that the fish can obtain in the water...”
Cool Breeze by A.P. 2004
“ If I were to give a title to my design it would be Cool Breeze. I would name it this because when I first looked at it, it reminded me of wind blowing around. This is probably because of the swirling shapes all around the design and the sun in the middle...”
Essence of Solemn Peace of Mind by B.M. 2004
“ I chose this title because mandala is Sanskrit for that of essence. I think the design and colors represent a solemn peace of mind due to their seriousness... They are not flashy or frivolous colors... The repeating colors in the mandala create a sense of calmness and steadiness. The shapes are soft and looping, without hard corners. This also promotes feelings of peacefulness...”

Fire by B.N.M 2004
The artist chose the colors based on his knowledge of fire - the purple at the center being the “hottest” part, phasing to blue and then red, orange and finally yellow at the edges.


Endangered Species Project - 8th Grade Math

(showing exponential growth and changes in it using endangered species)
These students chose the bald eagle for their project.  They believed that habitat destruction and water pollution affected the population (as seen on the graph with the blue line).  

By I.R and C.B. 2005

These students chose the tiger for their project.  They believe that hunting for the tiger's fur would cause the population to be affected.

By T.L. and D.F. 2005

Rectangles with Fixed Perimeters - 8th Grade Math

(inspired by CMP book - Frogs, Fleas and Painted Cubes)
Students were required to choose a fixed perimeter and draw all rectangles with that perimeter  - they then had to create a table with the lengths and the widths of the rectangles.  Students discovered that the greatest area was created by a square.

Two students went above and beyond and forever will be known as "my 100 girls" (note the picture below) .  By I.M. and J.B.