Geometry and Spatial Sense
Page Thompson. Play. Nov. 16, 2013 [Online Image]
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This week as a class we focused on geometry and spatial sense. I presented an activity this week introducing the class to pattern block puzzles and how they teach important mathematical curriculum objectives in a fun and engaging way. With four levels of puzzles, there are pattern block puzzles that can meet the needs of various students in a class (differentiated instruction). This type of activity helps students to identify different types of polygons and quadrilaterals, while teaching them to identify line(s) of symmetry in an overall shape. A teacher could also ask a student to classify and discuss shapes based on their angles or benchmark angles (right angles, obtuse angles, and straight angles). Ultimately this activity can be adapted and presented to students in a multitude of ways to address various learning goals and curriculum objectives.
Anthony Ith. Geometric. August. 13, 2012 [Online Image]
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How can you ensure that your students have a conceptual understanding of geometry and spatial sense?
When children build on their knowledge of basic shapes, the increase their ability to reason spatially, read maps, visualize objects in space, and eventually use geometry to solve problems.
By combining well designed activities, appropriate tools and a teachers' support, students can make and explore geometric and spatial concepts. They can also learn to reason carefully about geometric ideas from the earliest years of schooling. Geometry is about more than definitions, it is about describing relationships and reasoning.
Students experience geometry in the works around them both in school and at home. Personal experiences with shapes and solids begin very early on in life and as students continue to develop their understanding of geometric concepts and spatial sense, they begin to make more connections between the formal geometry curriculum taught at school and environmental geometry they they experience in their everyday lives. As educators it is important for us to carefully plan activities that will enable students to build on these connections and identify relationships between and among various areas of geometry and spatial sense.
Resources:
Math Goodies. Building a Solid Math Foundation. [Online Article].
Sourced from: http://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/math_foundation.html
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