SYMMETRY
Itishelpfulifthechildrenhavehadexperienceofinvestigatingreflections,folding“butterfly”
paintings,lookingatcapitallettersofthealphabetanddrawinginthelinesofsymmetry,etc.
OutdoorArtSymmetry
Includeshapeandsymmetryworkaspartofoutdoorartactivities,e.g.
Havemirrorsandnaturalmaterialsavailable.Childrencancreatepicturesorplace
naturalmaterialsonmirrorsandlookatthereflectionthatismade
Undertakinglargescaleprintingactivities.Thechildrencancomparetheprintwiththe
objectusedforprinting.Forexampleitcanbefuntocompareafootdippedinpaint
withthefootprintthathasbeencreated
Encouragechildrentotrysymmetricalweavingpatternsonfences.Thiscanleadonto
geometricalshapeexplorations.LookatappssuchasGeoboard,GeodrawandGrid
DrawingforKids.Manyfencesarejustlife-sizegridsandgeoboards…
Bookmarkenvironmentalartimagesthathaveclearlinesofsymmetryorsymmetrical
patternsandusetheseasinspirationforcreatingsymmetricalpatternsoutside
HappaZomeisaJapaneseprintingtechnique.Itinvolvesplacingfreshlypickedweeds
betweentwosheetsofcalico.Thecalicoisthenbeatenwithahammerormallet.When
theweedsareremoved,theirimprintisleftonthematerial.
SameandDifferent
Getchildrentofindanaturalobject.Thenaskthemtofindanotheroneexactlythesame.
Discusssimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthetwoobjects.
Extendthisactivitybyplacingtheobjectsdownalineinasymmetricalpatternsothatthe
objectononesideofthelinereflectsthesameobjectontheotherside.Oncechildren
understandthis,theycanworkwithapartnertocreatesymmetricalpatternpicturesusing
foundobjects.Thiscanbeextendedifundertakenonablankgridoutsideorplacewherethe
positionofanobjectcanbedeterminedmoreprecisely.
©JulietRobertson,CreativeSTARLearningLtd,2016www.creativestarlearning.co.uk
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Symmetryispartofnature
Thisactivityisdesignedtohelpchildrentoidentifythesymmetricalpropertiesofleaves.Itisan
idealactivityforawoodlandwalk,butifyouhaveaccesstoanumberofdifferenttreesand
plantsaroundyourschool,thenitwillbepossibletoundertakethistaskontheschoolgrounds.
Invitethechildrentoworkinsmallgroupstocollectleaves.Theyarethenencouragedto
discusssomeofthepropertiesoftheleaves.Directthemtothinkaboutthesymmetrical
propertiesand'challenge'themtoansweranumberofquestionsabouteachleafintheir
collection.
Isitsymmetrical?
Howdoyouknowitissymmetrical?
Howmanylinesofsymmetrydoesithave?
Encouragethechildrentocollectatleast6leavesthatdisplaysomeoftheseproperties.They
couldtakedigitalphotographsoftheleaves,makeleafrubbingsand/orcompleteachartasa
wayofrecordingtheirdata.Closelymonitortheiruseofmathematicallanguage(whetheroral
orwritten)andencouragetheaccurateuseofvocabularythroughouttheirdiscussions.
Clayfaces
Theinvestigationistofindoutwhethersymmetricalorasymmetricalfacesarethemostscary.
Thechildrencandecideasaclasshowtocarrythisout.Demonstratethedifferencebetween
symmetrical and asymmetrical features. If there are no trees, then this can be done on the
sides of buildings. The clayisusedtomakethefeatures.Addtinyberries,stones,leavesand
othernaturalmaterialstohand.
Symmetryhunt
Usingplasticmirrorsandbuildinguponpreviousoutdoorsymmetrywork,undertakea
symmetrywalkoutside.Startwithsmallobjectsuntilchildrendevelopaneyeforwhattheyare
lookingfor:
Lookforleavesandflowerswithsymmetricalpatterns.Checkusingthemirror
Lookforsymmetricalshapesonbuildings,e.g.doors,windows,bridges
Lookatsymmetricalpatternsofplantingflowersandbedsinlocalparks
Lookatpatternsofbricks,pavements,cobbles.
Takephotosanduseforfollowupdisplayorartworkonpatternandsymmetry.
Thinkaboutdifferentobjectsoutdoorsandencouragethechildrentoobserveandanswers
questionssuchas:
Isthisobjectsymmetricalandhowdoyouknowthis?
Howmanylinesofsymmetrydoesithave?(talkabouthorizontal,vertical,diagonallines
ofsymmetry)
Whatsortofsymmetrydoestheobjecthave–reflectiveorrotational?
Arewindowsanddoorsplacedinsymmetricalpatterns?Ifnot,whynot.
Withtheactivitiesbelow,createacharttorecordtheresults,e.g.
©JulietRobertson,CreativeSTARLearningLtd,2016www.creativestarlearning.co.uk
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Object
Numberoflinesof
symmetry
Rotationalsymmetry
Comment
Extendingsymmetryoutside
Again,buildingupontheoutdoorsymmetryworkundertakenpreviously,consideravisittoa
townorpartofacitywherefurtherbuildingdesignscanbeobservedandagreatrangeof
patterns.UsingGoogleEarthpriortogoingoutcanbeausefulintroductiontolookingat
symmetry,shapesandanglesfromabird’seyeviewandforillustratingwhatissymmetricaland
whatisn’t.
Getthechildrentotakephotoswithadigitalcamerawhenonanoutingorwalkanddrawon
thelinesofsymmetrywhichhavebeenobservedoutside.
Kitemakingandflying
Thislinksnicelywithascienceprojectaboutflight.Childrencanmaketheirownkitewhichis
dependentonsymmetricalaccuracyinordertofly.Formoreinformationandvideoclips,have
alookathttps://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/13529
SymmetricalSketches
Ausefulassessmentforupperprimaryschoolinvolvesenjoyingartwork.Havealookathow
artistsinterpretthelandscapearoundthem.Veryoftentheydrawthingsslightlydifferentlyto
help people view the world in different ways. In this activity encourage children to sketch a
symmetricallandscape.Thiscouldbeinyourschoolgroundsoroff-site.Challengetheclassto
ensure that every aspect of symmetry is represented in their interpretation. For example,
featureswith:
Infinitelinesofsymmetry(acircularwindoworafootball)
One(atreeoraroof)),two(adoor)andthreeaxisofsymmetry(equilateraltrianglesfor
leaves)
Rotationalsymmetry(rotationof2,3,4ormore)
Tessellatingpatterns–apavement,etc.
©JulietRobertson,CreativeSTARLearningLtd,2016www.creativestarlearning.co.uk
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