I put the pattern blocks out to see what the children would do with them today and waited to see what would happen. Several children checked out the pattern blocks and left. Then I noticed Sascha stayed. He kept making designs long after others had gone. So, I decided to get my camera and watch what he was doing. Sascha and the Mirror
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Iputthepatternblocksouttoseewhatthechildrenwoulddowiththemtodayandwaitedtoseewhatwouldhappen.
Severalchildrencheckedoutthepatternblocksandleft.ThenInoticedSaschastayed.Hekeptmakingdesignslongafterothershadgone.So,Idecidedtogetmycameraandwatchwhathewasdoing.
SaschaandtheMirror
BythetimeIgotmycamera,Saschaalreadyhadnestedtogetheralotofblocksonhisblackfelt.Theyfitsnuglysidebysidewhenheplacedthemcarefully.InthispictureIcancount35oftheminthebigdesigninthemiddleand5greentrianglesinarowinthecorner.Saschaplacedeachonejustso.Iknewsomethinginterestingmustbegoingoninhismind.Saschasaid,“Iammakingitthesameonbothsides.”Ilooked,andindeeditwastrue.Hisdesignwassymmetrical!NowIcouldseewhathehadinmind.
Headdedwhiteparallelogramstotheverytopthatradiatedoutlikeraysfromthesun.
Saschasaid,“ItlookslikeRafikifromtheLionKing.”
Itdoes!Icanseethehairallaroundthefaceofamandrill.
Ifoundapictureofamandrilljusttomakesure.Yes,itistrue.ItisRafikiallright.
IthoughtitwouldbeinterestingforSaschatoseethiscreationinamirror,soIbroughttheroundmirrorover.
Saschabeganrollingthemirroraroundthedesigntoseeitfromdifferentviewpoints.
Thereitwas.Nomatterwhereheputthemirrorhecouldseethedesignwasthesameonthetableandinthereflectioninthemirror.
Saschascrappedhispreviousdesign.Allthoseblockswentbackinthebasket.Ithoughthewasfinishedfortoday,butnoway!
Hebeganworkingonthedesignyouseehere.
Itlookedtomelikethemirrorwasinthecenterofthisdesign,buttherewasnomirror!
Ithoughtthatwasaclevertrick.Nowwhatwouldhedo?
RightbelowthattrickSaschacreatedanewdesignandaddedacopyofthedesignbesideit,likeamirror.
Whatwasamazingwasthatitdidn’tstop!Saschajustkeptongoing.Headdedanotherdesign,justlikethefirst,rightontotheendofit.Thenanother!
Saschainventedapattern!Butthiswasaveryspecialpattern,becauseeachpartofithadamirrorinit,too.Eachsectionwasthesameonbothsides!Anothertrickytrick!
Sascha,itwasamazingtowatchyou!Youcreatedadesignwithsymmetry.Thatisthewordwehaveforbeingthesameonbothsides.Yousawinthemirrorhowthereflectioncreatessymmetry,too.
Whatdoesitmean?
Youthencreatedasymmetricaldesignofbeauty.Notonlyisseconddesignthesameonbothsides,itispleasingtotheeye;itisaworkofart.
Youdidn’tstop!Youbegantocreatemirrorsthatwentonandon.Youcreatedadesignthatcouldberepeated,eachsectionamirrorimageofthelastsection.
Youmadeapatternofsymmetry!
Youcreatedastoryofdesigns,eachoneamirror,goingforwardandgoingback,inapatternthatcouldgoonandonforever.
Butyouwouldneedaverylongtableandmillionsofblocks!
ImaginewhatSaschacandowiththisamazingdiscovery.Hecantakehisinventivemindandbuildamazingcreationsintheblockarea,orindrawing,oreveninclay!Whenapersondiscoverssymmetryheorshecanfinditeverywhere,inourhandsandbodies,inthewayyoubuildacarandaboat,andtheshapeofaleaf.Withaneyeforpatternsonecanfindtheminhownumbers,work,too.Allofarithmeticispatterns.SaschaisMr.Discovery.Iwillhavetokeepaneyeonhimtoseewhatheinventsnext!
Whatopportunitiesandpossibilitiesopen?
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