IN THE CLASSROOM:

As the sun began to fall along the Newport Beach coastline, glimmers of light still shone through the windows at the Rainey Fine Art Gallery onto the exhibit showcased Thursday night. Geometric portrayals and mirror renderings of some of the 20th century’s most memorable buildings graced the walls at the small gallery.

And while the elegance of the event was suitable for adults, this one was all for the kids.

Amber Baur, a sixth-grade teacher at Eastbluff Elementary, wanted to get her students excited about geometry — no easy feat. She figured the best way to do this was to not only tap into the children’s creativity, but to also show them the practical application in the subject.

She discussed art, photography and architecture and how geometry works in the fields — the culminating assignment asked the students to choose a 20th century building and draw it.

Those pictures were displayed at the art gallery Thursday for students and family members to enjoy the beauty of geometry.

“[With this assignment] they can see outside the walls of the classroom and that what they learn matters,” Baur said. “If we would have done this in the classroom, they would have been excited. But this makes them interested in life. It becomes professional and profound.”

A teacher for half a decade, this is Baur’s first year at Eastbluff. And as many teachers do, she fielded questions from students often asking, “When are we going to use this?” In an effort to show them, she created this assignment, part of her Webquest program — a website she created for the students that allows for discussion, has podcasts from industry professionals and provides students with information.

The assignment focuses on teaching children about the differences between one-, two- and three-dimensional shapes. It also allows the children to explore various angels and their properties.

“This showed me how math can involve a lot of different things you can do in life,” 11-year-old Alex Varasteh said.

Alex drew the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University that took him about a month to complete, the same length most students spent on the assignment.

“I feel like it’s awesome,” he said. “How many kids can say I had my artwork math hang at an art gallery?”

Dr. James McGaugh came to admire grandson Kirby Marrow’s work. He had chosen a building McGaugh knows something about — McGaugh Hall at UCI.

“All of this work is enormously impressive,” McGaugh said. “These kids have drawn this true to geometry. These buildings have twists, turns, curves. I have never heard of an assignment of this kind. It is impressively done.”

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected].