Monday, September 13, 2010

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.

8 comments:

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

We are still getting stuck on the first part of this exercise - producing an acceptable leaf rubbing :) Fun lesson on symmetry!

Unknown said...

You are right- the crayon rubbing definitely makes it more fun

Phyllis said...

I have never seen anything like this before. Neat idea.

Kara said...

What an awesome symmetry lesson- brilliant!

Christy Killoran said...

We are with Natalie - my kids have not been able to actually make leaf rubbings. We'll try again this year though.

I love this lesson.

Unknown said...

fun like always@
my boys just aren't good at leaf rubbings. we did symmetry with Legos. The are great with Legos.

Joyful Learner said...

I don't think I would have thought of that as I assumed that all leaves were symmetrical. Now I have to try this myself!

Debbie said...

I like the idea behind this. I wanted to run to my window to see if there are any leaves out and about, but I already know that answer.