Students from Year 7 and up recently showcased their Maths skills and creativity in the school's annual Desmos Art Competition. The competition challenged students to create art using a variety of equations, polygons and tables of values.

In Year 7 many students used co-ordinates to create numerous creatures from a variety of multisided polygons. There were sea-horses, flamingos, cats, birds, horses and even a fire-breathing dragon in the mix. Other students created cartoon animals using other techniques including Snoopy, Garfield, an Oody, and a character known as Captain Woofs.

In Year 8, Claire demonstrated perseverance coding more than 2,000 lines of code to trace the curves of her grand piano, including all of the keys. Toscane's entries contrasted a stunning colourful horizon with another icy mountainscape.

In Year 9, Alexis used a huge variety of different maths skills to create a whimsical and colourful cartoon. Elizabeth's sports-focused football and tennis ball, created with less than 15 equations stood out for their efficiencies. Anya and Suzy began experimenting with parabolas to create hairdos, and a bunny's face.

Animation and 3D Design

The second year of this Desmos Art competition at Marsden was the first to have animated entries.

Music was a common theme with an outstanding submission from Year 8 Student Charlie's Taylor Swift: Cruel Summer. She captured the sparkling effect of sequins on the performer's costume by animating the random function in 5 different patterns, each with its own colour. In Year 9 Distinction winner Victoria's karaoke-style "Rick Roll" is best appreciated with your audio turned on as the lines of the chorus are animated on screen.

Also in Year 9, Eva created a clever pattern of increasing and decreasing circles pairing functions of 'pi' and sliders to animate her design. In Year 12, Marama animated the propellers on a Hercules C-130 so it looks as if the plane is about to take off.

Animated entries in Year 7 include Anya's Frog in the Moonlight (complete with craters in the moon) who catches flies out of a random swarm, and Ella's Cat whose eyes track a moving bird, and it lets out a 'Meow' as it opens its mouth.

During the competition, several Year 7 students discovered the 3D possibilities of Desmos and set off building houses and creating rainbow waves and polar circles. This went above and beyond the brief and so a new category was created to showcase their work.

Awards were presented at three levels - Distinction, Commendation, and Participation - recognising creativity, skill, and perseverance.

Teacher Deborah Van Zyl said, "I was amazed by the diligence and dedication of our students. Many took the basics we introduced in class and extended themselves, learning new mathematical functions and programming to bring their ideas to life. Desmos helps make abstract skills visual, strengthens algebraic understanding, and shows that maths can truly be a creative language." She added that the department is already looking forward to what students will create next year at this exciting intersection of mathematics and art.