Geometry and real life!

This week in my grade 4 I had the opportunity to teach art and math both in the same day, so I thought a cross-curricular activity would be beneficial.  For art class the specific expectations that I had for the students were learning how to use shapes and lines to draw pictures.  I found a great activity online in which the students are asked to draw and paint an old Victorian home, which was very fitting due to their many shapes and sizes.  They turned out amazing.  I was very impressed at the use of various shapes and sizes, and also the painting techniques.  The next class just happened to be math and we were starting a unit on geometry.  I used the classes house designs and asked the students to identify the various shapes and sizes in their Victorian homes.  They had a blast and they also realized how geometry can be related to real life.  It was an awesome transition, and the students will probably pay closer attention to shapes in homes as they observe the scenes in the back of their parents car on the way home.  Or better yet, for all the young aspiring architects in the class, they may have the desire to design their own future homes!