Pixel Portraits

Pixels are coming back!  Thanks to the game, Minecraft, students are better able to understand what a pixel is.  Pixels are small little squares that make up the images on computer and television screens. The screen is divided up into a matrix of thousands or even millions of pixels. Typically, you cannot see the individual pixels, because they are so small. However, in Minecraft, just like they were back in the 1980's, pixels are enlarged so you can see each square that makes up the picture.  Furthermore, each pixel can only be one color at a time. 

Students created their pixel portraits using a grid I created and outlining their portrait in pencil first before adding color.  Finally students cut little squares of construction paper to complete their pixel portrait.   

The best part about pixels, is that they can also be used in math class!  Student's took their portraits to math class and calculated the area, circumference, and made bar graphs for numbered of squares used per color.