Symmetrical Towers

Hailee built a tower with the indoor wooden blocks yesterday.  The structure of the tower was complex and it was symmetrical.  I talked to Hailee about her tower and explained that symmetrical meant that if you cut it down the middle the tower is the same on both sides.  In reflection time Hailee and I explained this to the other children.  We left the tower over night with our ‘Don’t Touch’ sign up.  At morning meeting today I challenged the other children to have a go at making a symmetrical tower.  We discussed who they could go to for help if they got stuck.  They all said, “Hailee!”  When Lachlan asked Hailee for help, the tower wasn’t turning out the same design as Hailee’s.  She was worried about this and spoke to me.  I said, “But look it is still symmetrical!”  Hailee went on to redesign another symmetrical tower for herself.  It was more complex than the last one.  Stay tuned because I hope this activity will inspire some other children to have a go.

Mrs Grant printed off some pictures of famous symmetrical towers and buildings from around the world to stimulate our building today.  Some of us recognised the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  We have had family members visit it.  Helping children make connections with their experiences and new learning is a powerful learning strategy.  Children who have had some experience with the Eiffel Tower will connect this to their learning about symmetry and further develop their knowledge of the tower and Paris.  For children where this knowledge is new, the next time they hear someting about the Eiffel Tower they will be able to connect this to our learning at Pre School.  And so we build our complex knowledge of the world around us.  Today we used a variety of materials to construct towers.  Some children choose pictures and teachers worked with them to construct their towers.  The popular towers were “The Leaning Tower of Pisa” and “The Eiffel Tower”.

This week Hailee and Cheyenne made symmetrical pictures with the shape boards and Hailee drew a symmetrical monster.  We can see symmetry coming out in all areas of our learning at Pre School.

 

 

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