CASE: Stop Symmetric Alice and save the annual mini golf tournament!
OUTCOME: The Mobile Unit beat the villainous Symmetric Alice and solved the case! They cracked the pattern and found out that all of the shapes Symmetric Alice was stealing were symmetrical. So they created shadows of symmetrical shapes that Symmetric Alice couldn’t zap.
COLD CASE EXTENSION ACTIVITY:
Something VERY ODD has happened! Shadows are coming out of the wall and turning into real objects. To get the shadows back onto the wall, you must create your own shadows.
To complete your mission, you will need:
1. A flashlight
2. 5 Opaque objects (objects that light can’t pass through)
3. A dark room
Once you’ve gathered your materials, follow these steps:
1. In a dark room, place your flashlight on a surface in front of a wall.
2. Turn your flashlight on.
3. Take each of your opaque objects and put them in front of the flash light.
4. Record whether your shadows are symmetrical or asymmetrical.
Objects
Symmetrical or Asymmetrical?
Object 1: ________________
Object 2: ________________
Object 3: ________________
Object 4: ________________
Object 5: ________________
SYNOPSIS FOR TEACHERS/PARENTS:
In this episode the Mobile Unit tries to stop a villain from stealing various objects to save the annual mini golf tournament. To do this, they must solve different patterns and use their knowledge about shadows and symmetrical shapes to save the day!
This episode teaches children about three important concepts: 1) how to recognize, describe and extend different patterns, 2) how to create shadows and discuss their properties, and 3) how to recognize whether a shape is symmetrical or asymmetrical.
CURRICULUM EXPECTATIONS:
Grade 2 Science - Understanding Matter and Energy: Properties of Liquids and Solids
2.6 Use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including clear, opaque, runny, hard, and granular, in oral and written communication
3.2 Describe the properties of solids and liquids
Grade 1 Mathematics - Geometry and Spatial Sense
Identify and describe common two dimensional shapes and sort and classify them by their attributes using concrete materials and pictorial representations
Locate shapes in the environment that have symmetry, and describe the symmetry
Compose patterns, pictures, and designs, using common two-dimensional shapes
Grade 1 Mathematics - Patterning and Algebra
Identify, describe, and extend, through investigation, geometric repeating patterns involving one attribute (e.g. colour, size, shape, thickness, orientation)
Identify a rule for a repeating pattern
Grade 2 Mathematics - Geometry and Spatial Sense
Identify and describe various polygon and sort and classify them by their geometric properties, using concrete materials and pictorial representations
Locate the line of symmetry in a two-dimensional shape
Grade 2 Mathematics - Patterning and Algebra
Represent a given growing or shrinking pattern in a variety of ways (e.g. using pictures, actions, colours, sounds, numbers, letters)
Demonstrate, through investigation, an understanding that a pattern results from repeating an operation or making a repeated change to an attribute
