Friday, November 14, 2014

4th Grade Radial Symmetry Kaleidoscopes

In 4th Grade, we learned about radial symmetry vs. linear symmetry. We looked at a few different images like a butterfly, beetle, and then an orange and a flower. Students each guessed which image had radial or linear symmetry before I gave them the definitions. Here is a picture below that shows radial vs. bilateral (or linear) symmetry fairly well.


Students also learned about the history of kaleidoscopes and that each image can never be repeated. We all agreed that each kaleidoscope image showed radial symmetry like this one below.



Then, we talked about geometric vs. organic shapes (a tricky concept!)  
Geometric shapes such as circles, triangles or squares have perfect, uniform measurements and don't often appear in nature.
Organic shapes are associated with things from the natural world, like plants and animals.



After students folded paper and cut out both geometric and organic shapes, they glued down the pieces to black paper. They came out beautiful! Can you find the radial symmetry below?








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