Crayon Rubbing Leaf Symmetry

We had some fun this morning, with a leaf themed flip symmetry exercise from mathcats.com. I started by sending the children out on another leaf gathering mission. This time, their objective was to find the most symmetrical leaves they could.



They took turns making crayon rubbings of their leaves, by placing the leaves under their papers, and rubbing the edge of a crayon back, and forth, over the leaf.



Once they had a good likeness of the leaf, they laid their leaf next to it...



...and then flipped the leaf over the top of it...



...and traced the leaf...



...to see how symmetrical, or asymmetrical their leaves really were. If they matched up perfectly, they were symmetrical. But if, as was the case with our leaves, the outline was off here, and there from the rubbing, then they weren't really symmetrical at all.

Of course, this could be seen simply by folding the leaves in half, down the middle, but the crayon rubbings were so much fun.



Finally, we reviewed a Cyberchase episode, highlighting different types of symmetry, entitled "The Secrets of Symmetria" (you can find it on YouTube, in three parts, starting here).

For more fun with math, check out this week's Math Monday link-up, hosted by Joyful Learner.

It's great to be a homeschooler.