Learning Mathematics At Home
We’re designing some activities for primary school students who will be doing mathematics at home while schools are closed. These activities are designed to support the curricular competencies of the new British Columbia curriculum.
The activities focus on spatial reasoning and geometry, which are often taught during the last few months of the school year, and which provide important foundations for mathematics reasoning more generally.
Use a dynamic fan to compare angles, distinguish between acute, obtuse and right angles, and orient yourself in space.
Help! I'm not symmetrical... and I want to be. Can you see the line of symmetry? Can you drag the squares so that I'm symmetrical across it?
Explore properties and behaviours of circles. Construct your own circles. Create circle designs. Experiment with circles in motion.
Explore how circles can be used to create shapes that can tessellate. Make your own designs. Use designs that have been used in Islamic tessellations.
Explore the areas two circles as they change in size. Experiment with circles that overlap, to find the different shapes that can be made. Visualise how overlapping circles relate to the shape of the moon in the night sky.
Explore five-, four- and three-sided polygons. Find out how they can change if their sides stay the same length. Create new shapes that always have the same side lengths. Experiment with the circle as a tool to make new sides.
Using Dynamic Geometry Software
Dynamic geometry software (DGS) is a powerful tool for improving student learning. Incorporating an engaging visual component, it allows learners to explore, test conjectures, discover patterns, and think creatively.
The basic tools of DGS are more than appropriate for the primary school mathematics curriculum. Students are excited to interact with the software and it offers many opportunities for collaboration and discussion.
