Students at Escola Estadual Deputado Josué Cláudio de Souza, in Coroado (AM), developed a musical keyboard adapted for students with visual, hearing and intellectual disabilities. The project that gave rise to the device was coordinated by two professors.
Mathematics teacher Vanise Rodrigues and Arts teacher Jhonata Monteiro joined forces to develop the project “Mathematics, Arts and Connectivity: interdisciplinarity and teaching in the construction of a sustainable and inclusive musical keyboard”. Third year high school students joined the educators’ proposal, and the group began work in the school’s “Maker Space”. Using recycled materials, they created an adapted musical keyboard, designed especially for colleagues with visual, hearing and intellectual disabilities.
The essence of the keyboard lies in the ingenuity and originality of its construction. The metal plates emit vibrations that are captured by a special glove and translated through colored lights. This approach will not only allow students to identify musical notes, but should also provide an experience with tactile and visual stimuli. Furthermore, the scores were adapted into Braille for visually impaired students and into Libra for the deaf.
Professor Jhonata Monteiro shared that the project was born from the need to integrate music into the academic curriculum. With a collaborative approach, several teachers combined their skills and knowledge to make the project a reality. With this, recyclable materials were combined with mathematics concepts.
From designing and programming to collecting reusable materials, students worked together in a collaborative learning environment. Alessandro Lion, a former student who participated in the project when he was still studying at the unit, highlighted the importance of inclusion and the positive environmental impact of the initiative. “If you throw something away, you don’t realize it could be important,” the former student said.
The project garners praise and was the big winner of the “3rd Amazonian Mathematics Fair”, at the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam). Even so, for professor Vanise Rodrigues, there is still work to be done. The next step is to share the knowledge with new students at the school and transform the project into a scientific article.
