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Level One > Geometry and Measurement

Blindfolds

Keywords:
Achievement Objectives:

Achievement Objective: Give and follow instructions for movement that involve distances, directions, and half or quarter turns.

Specific Learning Outcomes: 

Follow instructions using distance, direction and turn

Devise and use problem solving strategies to explore situations mathematically (make a drawing, use equipment, act it out)

Description of mathematics: 

In this problem we explore 2-dimensional space by means of Charles body. It is a chance to experience movement under direction and hence to start to get a feeling for (or to practice) direction, turns and distance in the plane.

Required Resource Materials: 
Blindfold
Mosaic shapes
Copymaster of the problem (English)
Copymaster of the problem (Māori)
Activity: 

Problem

Charles has been blindfolded. The other students have given him some instructions to follow. They say that he has to walk three steps forward and then make a quarter turn clockwise. They get him to do that three more times in a row. What shape has Charles walked?

  1. Get all the students to stand up and follow your instructions (best done outside).
    - Turn left.
    - Turn right.
    - Walk three steps forward and make a half turn left. Walk three steps forward. Where did you end up?
  2. Pose problem to the class.
  3. Encourage the students to think of more than one way to solve the problem (act it out, draw a picture)
  4. Share solutions.
  5. Get the students to select another shape (drawn from a "hat") and write instructions for "walking the shape".
  6. Get the students to try out their instructions on another pair.

Extension to the problem

Could you get Charles to ‘walk out' a square shape using clockwise and anticlockwise turns?

Solution

Charles will produce a square with sides three paces long.

Extension:

The students' instructions would need to include telling Charles to walk the same number of paces for each side and to make 3 turns either all clockwise or all anticlockwise.

AttachmentSize
Blindfolds.pdf34.16 KB
Blindfolds Maori.pdf48.07 KB

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