{"id":5165,"date":"2024-04-02T09:56:38","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T17:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.familymathnight.com\/blog\/?p=5165"},"modified":"2024-04-02T09:56:38","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T17:56:38","slug":"insect-symmetry-a-family-math-night-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familymathnight.com\/blog\/?p=5165","title":{"rendered":"Insect Symmetry – A Family Math Night Activity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Math and art. It’s always a huge hit at our Family Math Night events. Since we were using our\u00a0Gellin’ with Geometry<\/a>\u00a0kit and the event was in the spring, I decided to tie geometry and spring together and came up with a\u00a0springtime symmetry\u00a0<\/em>activity. Enter our insect friends.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The type of symmetry I focused on was bilateral symmetry. It’s the same as mirror or reflection symmetry except that when it comes to biological creatures – like our insect friends – biologists call it bilateral symmetry. Bilateral symmetry is dividing a figure in half by exactly one line so that the halves, if “folded” are identical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we do with all of our\u00a0Family Math Night<\/a>\u00a0activities, I created three levels of activity sheets – Beginning (K\/1), Intermediate (2\/3), and Advanced (4\/5). Each level had three different insects to choose from. And just for fun, I also included a challenge at the Advanced level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Here’s an example of the ladybug at the Intermediate level. Notice how it’s on a grid. This grid is super important as it helps guide students in drawing their lines. Artists often use grid lines when they want to scale a design. We aren’t scaling in this project but the grid lines help in the same way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Bonus: For another super fun activity I do with upper elementary students that involves using the grid method to scale drawings,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although this activity is super fun to do at a\u00a0Family Math Night<\/a>\u00a0event, it can also be done in the classroom. The younger students, however, will need some help. This is the perfect time for a buddy class of older students or parent volunteers to come work with the littles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> for the lesson plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Math and art. It’s always a huge hit at our Family Math Night events. Since we were using our\u00a0Gellin’ with Geometry\u00a0kit and the event was in the spring, I decided to tie geometry and spring together and came up with a\u00a0springtime symmetry\u00a0activity. Enter our insect friends. The type of symmetry I focused on was bilateral symmetry. It’s the same as mirror or reflection symmetry except that when it comes to biological creatures – like our insect friends – biologists call…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,46,54],"tags":[81,89,231,268],"class_list":["post-5165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities","category-geometry","category-geometry-kids-and-math-3-5","tag-family-math-night-activities","tag-math-and-art","tag-math-night","tag-symmetry"],"yoast_head":"\nInsect Symmetry - A Family Math Night Activity - Karyn's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.familymathnight.com\/blog\/?p=5165\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Insect Symmetry - A Family Math Night Activity - Karyn's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Math and art. It’s always a huge hit at our Family Math Night events. Since we were using our\u00a0Gellin’ with Geometry\u00a0kit and the event was in the spring, I decided to tie geometry and spring together and came up with a\u00a0springtime symmetry\u00a0activity. Enter our insect friends. The type of symmetry I focused on was bilateral symmetry. It’s the same as mirror or reflection symmetry except that when it comes to biological creatures – like our insect friends – biologists call... 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