Hands-On Geometry

This year I wanted my geometry unit to be FUN so I packed it with hands-on exploration.

We started by reviewing basic shapes.  My original plan had been to use popsicle sticks, but due to poor planning, I didn’t have enough on hand. Luckily, I found something way better!  (And easier.)

The kids just took out their supply boxes and used the markers and crayons in the box.  The great thing about these materials was that the kids had different lengths readily available.  So when I said to make a rhombus, we discussed how they would need 4 sides of equal lengths.  To create a rectangle, students needed 2 longer sides of equal length and 2 shorter sides of equal length.  It was so much easier to discuss the different attributes with these materials.

Next up, we learned about SYMMETRY.  Seems like such a simple concept until you try to explain it to 3rd graders!  So we used paper shapes and folded them in half to prove symmetry.  The kids were shocked to find that the hexagon had some many lines of symmetry while the isosceles triangle had none.  After experimenting with each shape, we posted it on a chart by the number of lines of symmetry.