Flower Geometry on Summer Vacation
Summer can be fun Learning Math on your camping trip or at home in your backyard. An interesting approach to learning geometry in elementary math is by the study of flowers found in your backyard (or schoolyard in Spring or Fall). Have your class walk around the local grounds, or give them an assignment to go home and document in their notebooks, different flowers, counting the number of petals in the flowers.
A second item, if time permits is to have the Learners identify the flowers as well. Upon arrival back in the classroom, Learners identify, with their geometry charts, which geometric pattern or shape the flower has grown into.
Materials:
Eyes (peepers for finding flowers)
Camera, if available
Notebook
Pencil and Good Eraser
Pencil Crayons in various colors
Ruler
Compass (if you wish to measure angles in the shapes)
Glue
String
Next, Learners draw in their notebooks the geometric shape the flower is equated with, and beside the shape, a simple drawing of the flower, coloring the flower drawing with the corresponding color of the petals. If possible, 3-D forms can be cut out and interlocked together, with a string glued into the top of the start and made into Christmas ornaments.
Example:
Yellow Blue-eyed Grass: (photo Above) 6-Petaled Yellow Wild Flower (that also grows in Bluish Purple and White); found in tall grasses who / that opens up only with the sun, and closes at the end of the day when the sun sets, or on cloudy days.
Geometric pattern: 6-pointed Star Tetrahedron; Two 3-Dimensional Interlocking Equilateral Triangles with a conjoining dot in the middle. These 2 photos show the star tetrahedron (6-pointed) both in 2-dimensional form (as it would be if drawn flat on a piece of paper). The second photo is a rendition of a 3-dimensional form (as if it were hanging as an ornament in a tree). SourceURL:file:///Users/sheila/Desktop/Summer%20Flower%20Geometry.doc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_tetrahedron
When looking, aim for the pattern that is found when counting the Number of Petals in the Flowers. In the Yellow Blue-Eyed Grass, there are 6 petals which if gazed at in a 3-Dimensional way, one can see the pattern of the 6-pointed star tetrahedron.
This can be a fun activity to do while on summer vacation – or during the schoolyear in Spring and Fall, and depending what climate area your school is, it can be done during winter as well.
For more fun Learning activities on our site, feel free to visit here:
http://math-lessons.ca/Decimals/decimal.html
http://math-lessons.ca/review/math-review5.html
http://math-lessons.ca/worksheets/ttworksheets.html
http://math-lessons.ca/activities/FractionsBoard4.html