This lesson created by Hafeeza Mayet (Malboro Gardens Secondary School, South Africa) on Line Symmetry is aimed at Grade 4 and 5 learners and was created using Microsoft Mouse Mischief. Find other great lessons like this one on the Partners in Learning Network (Africa): http://africa.partnersinlearningnetwork.com
16. HOMEWORK
Now find pictures in newspapers and magazines
that are symmetrical and paste these as a
collage
Notas do Editor
LINE SYMMETRY FOR GRADES 4 and 5.
If in multiple mouse mode, animations do not show. Multiple Mouse mode is a static slide show.
Ask learners to put hands together as in prayer, then open and close while keeping thumbs together (flapping like butterfly wings).
Allow 6 minutes for discussion.
Initiate the question: Why do you think a human face is not always symmetrical? Discuss how scars, blemishes, beauty spots etc affect the symmetry of a face / photo. Reiterate the terms symmetrical and asymmetrical.
Learners must show how they would cut these pictures so that the halves would be mirror images of each other.
After answering, discuss how each picture is symmetrical / asymmetrical. Introduce learners to the term asymmetrical.
See if learners know these flags; 1. Zulu flag 2. South Africa 3. Brazil
Discuss Zulu Love letters. Zulu girls send letters made from beads to the young men they like. Many believe that this was particularly rife during the days when gold was discovered on the Rand and when Apartheid was at its strongest. It is said that the men travelled to Johannesburg to work on mines while the women and children remained in the rural villages. When girls were ready to marry, being uneducated and unable to read and write, they would make these beaded letters to express their feelings. These were sent to their intended partners in Johannesburg.
Every colour has a message. GREEN: explains that the girl has become as thin as a blade of grass as she is pining for him. YELLOW: some say is symbolises wealth, while others say it symbolises jealousy. BLACK explains that her heart is black with despair as she feels he went away as he rejected her. RED: symbolises her love for him. BLUE: tells him that she feels that if she was a dove, she would fly through the blue skies just to be with him. WHITE: symbolises purity and Peace. PINK: asks if he loves her as much as she loves him.
Study these love letters and brainstorm the link between Mathematics and these love letters. E.g. shapes, number of beads, rows, columns, patterns and especially symmetry.
Discuss properties of each. Allow learners to justify their choice. Finally show them that the bottom row of hanging beads in 1. is asymmetrical.
Reiterate the terms symmetrical and asymmetrical. Check learners use of vocabulary, especially the use of SYMMETRICAL and ASYMMETRICAL.
Provide marking rubric for collage. Integrate with Arts and Culture.
