Middle-schoolers use math to make a menagerie

HomeRockford Making Math Add UpRockford Middle-schoolers use math to make a menagerie Project helps students learn geometry concepts By Riley Kelley June 12, 2026 Seventh-graders Ruby Zawacki, left, Jazelle Elkins, center, and Abbi Dash show off the 3D elephant they designed in their advanced math class Rockford — The library at North Rockford Middle School this spring was converted into a mathematical menagerie, packed with pigs, elephants, dogs, lobsters — even unicorns, each built by students as they made their way through a recent lesson on geometry, surface area and volume. When the time came for seventh-graders in Katie Sizemore’s advanced math class to demonstrate their mastery of these concepts, Sizemore opted for something other than a test. ‘It gave them the opportunity to be creative, and in math they don’t always get to do that.’ — teacher Katie Sizemore Instead, she asked students to design and construct their own three-dimensional animals with boxes and other pieces of cardboard, measuring the area and volume of the different individual components along the way before calculating the dimensions of the whole. Once the animals were designed, built, measured and graded, students put them on display in the school library. Creating their Creatures Abbi Dash, one of Sizemore’s students, explained the process. “We started with finding an animal we wanted to do; then we drew it,” Abbi said. “And we measured it and found our dimensions and lengths for it, and we found the surface area and volume of the shapes we used to make the animal.” Kenzie Kelbel, left, and Lucy O’Rourke designed, constructed and measured the area and volume of a pig for their project Once the animals were assembled, Abbi said, students added up the dimensions to determine the total surface area and volume of each animal. “Then we decorated them to make them look like the animal we chose,” she said. Abbi was in a group with classmates Ruby Zawacki and Jazelle Elkins, and the trio chose to make an elephant. “We had an idea for the trunk — we used a slinky,” Ruby said, because, as Abbi noted, “We thought it would make it more unique.” The trio relished the opportunity to get creative with a math project. They gave their elephant big, bright, cartoonish eyes and a twisted tail to add to its uniqueness, Jazelle said. In another group, students Lucy O’Rourke and Kenzie Kelbel chose to make a pig, built with two rectangular prisms making up the body, and paper-towel rolls for the legs and snout. “I thought it was fun to decorate it and make it the best it could be,” said Lucy. All the seventh-graders agreed that the project was more fun than any test. “It encourages people to want to work on it because it’s something fun instead of just sitting there writing,” Abbi said. “We got to be more hands-on with it.” “I like to learn visually,” said Jazelle. “It definitely helped learning the dimensions and shapes, with something that’s right in front of you.” The students said it’s a lot easier to learn and understand concepts of geometry when you’re actually interacting with a real-life, three-dimensional object, and applying what you learn. Something Different This was Sizemore’s first time teaching the 3D animal project, but it went so well that she’s planning to turn it into an annual activity for her advanced learners. She said the project is “a little more hands-on, a little more real-life” than traditional tests. From left, Lucy O’Rourke, Kenzie Kelbel, Ruby Zawacki, Abbi Dash and Jazelle Elkins alongside their creature creations in the North Rockford Middle School library “It gave them the opportunity to be creative, and in math they don’t always get to do that,” said Sizemore. “It was just kind of a change of pace and something different. … I think that’s what I liked about it the best was just seeing some of them come out of their element a little bit.” Sizemore said the project involved teamwork, critical thinking and problem-solving. “It was super fun to watch them build and try to figure out how to get it all to fit together and piece together and stay standing,” she said. “There was a little engineering, too — figuring out how proportionally it would work out. It wraps in some of that engineering piece that some of these advanced math kids may do some day.” Read More From Rockford Student investors share secrets to their success Trailblazing counseling dog, founding ‘Ram Pack’ member, retires - Sponsorship - Riley Kelley Riley Kelley is a reporter covering Cedar Springs, Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Rockford and Sparta school districts. An award-winning journalist, Riley spent eight years with the Ludington Daily News, reporting, copy editing, paginating and acting as editor for its weekly entertainment section. He also contributed to LDN’s sister publications, Oceana’s Herald-Journal and the White Lake Beacon. His reporting on issues in education and government has earned accolades from the Michigan Press Association and Michigan Associated Press Media Editors. 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