How could you use a similar activity with students in the classroom? Were you able to complete the activity without too much frustration? What are some anticipated issues while doing this activity with students?
This activity as well as the activities within the article could all be used in the classroom as a way of teaching students about 2-D and 3-D figures. The nets could be used to show the students the way that 3-D figures are formed and help them to understand the way the nets look for each of the 3-D shapes. Students could do activities such as drawing their own nets to form 3-D figures, looking at a sheet of different nets to determine which ones would form the 3-D figures, and students could also use area as a way of finding out which nets would form the figures. I was able to complete the activities with fairly little trouble. I remembered using nets in school so I had an idea of which ones would work as well as which ones would not. I also after reading the article went back to the Nets activity to see how I would do then. I did do better after reading the article. An anticipated issue during this activity would students just not grasping how to use the nets. Some students may not understand the properties that a net must have in order to form a shape. For example: students may not understand that for a cube you need four connected squares in a row with a square on each side of the row. If students had trouble understanding that then they could have trouble with ever forming the cube. Also, some students can get frustrated with trying to form the 3-D figure and mess up when folding the figure, get discouraged, and give up.Spatial Readings, Annenberg, and Building Plans:
Did you find any of the activities challenging? If so, what about the activity made it challenging?
I found the first and second activity to be the most challenging. I had a hard time with the first activity because even after looking at the map the pictures had me very confused. When I watched the videos of the answers when I was finished I still noticed that I was not good at determining the location of the pictures even with the map. In the second activity I was just not able to form the figure with the silhouettes. I realized that my spatial visualization skills are not that great and are something I could definitely improve upon. The last activity I did good on because I was able to visualize the shapes the cubes shadow would give off.
Why is it important that students become proficient at spatial visualization?
Student's need to be proficient at spatial visualization because it is a big part of working with geometry. Spatial visualization helps students when learning about their 3-D shapes and helps them to understand characteristics and areas of these objects. Students need to be able to know that the 3-D shapes can be made up of 2-D shapes and that they can project the shadows of the different 2-D shapes.
At what grade level do you believe students are ready for visual/spatial activities?
I believe 4th grade could be a grade where visual/spatial activities are introduced. These concepts can be challenging for students in earlier grades because I myself have difficulty with some of the concepts myself. Students could start by just learning about the 3-D shapes and then move onto the visual/spatial activities.
How can we help students become more proficient in this area?
To help students become proficient in this area we as the teachers need to be proficient in it to start with. I still struggle in this area somewhat and before teaching it I would actually want to do some more review and try to master it. Students will have to take notes and do repeated practice activities to really understand visual/spatial concepts. If students are struggling then the teacher will need to assess what they are struggling with and try and think of a new way to teach them.
For further discussion:
Informal recreational geometry is an important type of geometry in many childhood games and toys. Visit a you store and make an inventory of early childhood toys and games that use geometric concepts. Discuss ways these materials might be used to teach the big ideas of early childhood geometry.
One toy I found was the shape block. The cube had different shapes cut out of it and the child had to find the corresponding shape piece to put through the hole and into the cube. This can help children to begin to know names of shapes as well as their characteristics. I also feel like this toy could be used as a tool in geometry in visual and spatial learning because the child will have to determine if the shape will fit in the slot the choose.
Annenberg Tangrams Module and Creation of Manipulative:
I have never been a fan of tangrams and still am not after completing the activities. I always had a hard time using them because I would forget the shapes that I was doing. When completing the Annenberg activities I struggled on all of them. I had difficulty in understanding what they questions were wanting me to do to and then when I would try and do the questions I would always hit a roadblock. I am concerned about having to use tangrams in my classroom as well as teach them because I struggled so much with this module. I feel like it would take me some review time and further instruction to really master using tangrams to the point of being able to teach about them.
We both mentioned using the nets and the 3D objects to relate the two things together. A 2D net forms a 3D shape. I think students might get frustrated trying to determine how to make a 3D object especially if they do not understand what a 3D shape is or the properties of it. How can we help students to relate the two together? What would you do if students did not understand the properties of a 3D shape like a cube has 6 squares on all the sides?
ReplyDeleteI also had trouble with the spatial reasoning activities. I feel like this will be hard to teach in the school because I am not good at it. How can we teach spatial reasoning in the schools since both of us have a hard time with it?
I also thought that fourth grade was a good idea to start introducing concepts. It gives the students an introduction while they are still learning simple geometric concepts before everything gets really complicated. It gives them time to practice and improve their skills. Do you think it is a good idea to do spatial reasoning activities at least 3 to 4 times a week in the classroom?
The geometric puzzle you found is really cool. I have not seen that before.Young students love puzzles and that will give them a great way to be introduced and practice with it. It also can teach tessellation. Would you use this in this in your classroom at a math center or for indoor recess?
With tangrams, I had trouble with them too. I think one way to ensure we teach them correctly is to just practice with them until we are able to do everything correctly without any trouble.I feel like tangrams are something that get better with practice.
To relate the two together I am not quite sure what I would do. I guess I would start by explaining why the net was 2-D and how it then formed a 3-D shape which had depth. To help students to understand the properties of a 3-D shape I would have pictures as well as tactile objects they could see. Also I would have pictures in the room with descriptions of each object. I think in order to teach spatial reasoning it will require us to do more research and learning on our own before we ever have to teach it. There is no way we can teach it when we don't understand it ourselves. I don't see how doing spatial reasoning activities 3 or 4 times a week could hurt anything. Practice makes perfect so if they can get that much practice. I would use the puzzle in the classroom. It is a fun learning experience for the students.
ReplyDeleteThe geometric puzzle you found looks like a fun activity. Spatial visualization has always been one of my strengths in math. I think solving these kinds of problems are a lot of fun. I have seen many peers and children struggle with this topic. I think regular exposure to it is key.
ReplyDeleteI also struggled with the first activity on the Annenberg site and still continue to do so after coming back to it multiple times. This tells me that some parts of my spatial understanding are stronger than others. We should begin spatial activities with young children at home by building with blocks, Legos, doing puzzles and other similar activities though the activities in the module are definitely more appropriate for older grades. Try not to shy away from the tangrams but do attempt to have a better understanding of how they work before implementing them in the classroom.
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