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Exploring Symmetry

Submitted by: Mayfield Primary School Viv Stagg, Jo Medcraft Rocherlea Primary School Nancy Dear, Tania Webb, Glennis Everett Kingston Primary School Sue Morgan

Beginning with one side of the board all yellow, turning over plugs so they are blue side up can create many patterns with line symmetry. Allow the children to explore as individuals or in groups. Encourage recording on Poly Plug Paper. How many different symmetric patterns can the class find? Find a way to make a class display of them all. Coloured sticky dots on a photocopied outline of a Poly Plug frame works well.

Children can make a symmetric pattern for their partner to copy. A variation is for Child A to make a symmetric pattern and show it to Child B for an agreed time, say 30 seconds, before it is hidden. Child B is then challenged to recreate the pattern from memory.

Four children who combine their boards can make more extensive symmetric patterns.

Try all the same ideas again with rotational symmetry.

Hint:
Make a rotationally symmetric pattern in the yellow/blue board and then copy the pattern by removing plugs from the red board. Place the red board on top of the yellow/blue board so the blue plugs from the pattern are revealed. Use your finger to pin the red board at the centre of rotation and rotate it until the blue pattern is revealed again. Discuss:

• the number of degrees or quarter turns you make to reveal the pattern again.
• the number of times the pattern is revealed before the red board comes exactly back to its starting point (this number is called the Order of Rotation).

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