[etoys-dev] Stencils in Etoys

[K. K. Subramaniam]

On Saturday 23 Jul 2011 10:06:05 AM Steve Thomas wrote:
> Thanks this is a lot of fun and useful. So I tried to use it for fractions
> (although I really like your art work project at Ofset
> <http://community.ofset.org/index.php/Grab_area_button>better, but I am
> thinking about fractions lately)
Art and Math are not treated differently (at least in ancient India). Art is 
just high level maths. I wrote the patch to help Susanne Guyader, an 80+ year 
old artist who used Squeak/Etoys to guide art teachers in France. She deserves 
all the credit for the Art and Squeak project.

> I used the "do menu item | stencil a sketch" scripting tile in a "Mouse
> Down" script.  The rectangle then moves forward by its width.   So with a
> series of successive clicks you can make a fraction.
Exactly! Stencils allow children to explore the math behind the patterns. It 
is difficult for them to perceive the difference between 1/8 and 3/8 without 
visual aids in the beginning. Unlike charts, Etoys is interactive. Unlike 
paper or cardboard, it allows children to repeat any number of times without 
waste.

Subbu