Activity 2
Objective
Students will use their understanding of transformations to create patterns using specific movements of their bodies.
Procedures
Students will be given the task of using a few limited resources to create the different transformations they have been studying. Students will be split up into groups of three that are predetermined by the teacher based on the similar learning styles and working pace of the individual students. In my classroom, this kind of group setting allows the students to work together more effectively so that all of the students have a fair chance to participate and understand the concept.
Each group will be given pencils, lined paper, white construction paper, large pieces of butcher paper, washable poster paint, and brushes. Since this activity will involve paint and present the opportunity for students to get messy, I will be sure to have students dress accordingly, as well as try to set up an area outside for them to work. Each group will also get the following information presented to them to complete their task.
You have been learning about how points can transform within a plane to create different patterns. Today your task is to use your body to illustrate these different kinds of transformations. To create your patterns, you can use your hands and/or feet as stamps with the paint and paper provided. Before you make your final product, you must make a plan using the lined paper and pencils. Your plan should answer the following questions for each transformation.
How can you use your hands or feet to illustrate this transformation? Where must you position your hands or feet? Draw a sketch of what you think this should look like. Why does this illustrate this kind of transformation? How can you justify it? Be sure to use the mathematical reasoning that we have discussed to support your argument.
The transformations that you are to illustrate are as follows: a translation, a reflection, a rotation, and a glide reflection. Each transformation should be done on a separate piece of construction or butcher paper. Complete each kind of transformation as many times as you'd like, but in only one direction. You should end up with a linear path of transformations for each one.
When the students are finished creating their transformations, they will go to another group to classify the pictures that group made. Finally, we will mount the patterns on the walls of the classroom by the type of symmetry it represents.
Assessment
Students will be assessed on their final products, as well as the written plans that were used in creating their patterns. I will be looking for accuracy in the final product, as well as an understanding of how the transformation was created. Teacher observation of groups discussing other patterns will also be used as an assessment tool. For homework, students will be asked to go home and teach a parent or another adult how to create one of the transformations that they created in class. Using what their child explained to them, the parents will create their own patterns that the students will share the next day in class.
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