Reflectional Symmetry in Cubes and Regular Tetrahedra Teaching Note 1

Learning Unit: Learning Objectives: More about 3D Figures Extend the idea of symmetry in 2D figures to recognise and appreciate the reflectional and rotational symmetries in cubes and regular tetrahedra 1. 2. 3. 4. Recognise the meaning of mirror images of 3D figures Recognize the reflectional symmetries in cubes and regular tetrahedra Draw the planes of reflectional symmetry in cubes and regular tetrahedra Recongise the relation between the number of vertices, edges and faces in cubes and regular tetrahedral, and the number of planes of reflectional symmetries

Aims of the Learning Activity:

Pre-requisite knowledge:

Recognise the meaning of reflectional symmetry in 2D figures

Background: Year level: S2 or S3 (suggested) Teaching aids: Worksheet 1, mirror/plastic film/silver-coated paper, long strip model (that can be folded to become a regular tetrahedron) and 3 half-cube models Flow of Learning Activities: 1. The teacher, according to students needs, revises with them the meaning of regular tetrahedra and how to interpret the meaning of 2D representations of 3D figures (Worksheet 0). The teacher revises with students the definition of reflectional symmetry in 2D figures and students are requested to draw the axis of reflectional symmetry in simple 2D figures (Section 0 of Worksheet 1). After then, the teacher may use the software 2D_Sym1 to demonstrate the effects of reflection of these figures and check students answers.

2.

The 2D_Sym software in Exemplar 9 can be downloaded from the web-page of Mathematics Education Section http://cd1.edb.hkedcity.net/cd/maths/en/ref_res/MATERIAL/MSS_e/MSS_e%20content.htm. The effect of reflection in some 2D figures can be shown through executing the software 2D_Symmetry in the folder 2D_Sym.

The Reflectional Symmetry in Cubes and Regular Tetrahedra

Teaching note 1

3.

The teacher explains the meaning of the image of a 3D object after reflection and asks students to draw the images of given reflections (Questions 1-3 in Section 1 of Worksheet 1).

4.

The teacher elaborates the meaning of reflectional symmetry in 3D figures and discusses with students the similarity and difference between reflectional symmetries in 2D and 3D figures (say, when they reflect in an axis/ a plane, the image and the object will overlap. 2D figures are reflected in an axis but the 3D figures are reflected in a plane). Students are then asked to construct half-cubes from the nets of half-cube model in the Symmetry in 3D figures Package. Then, they can use the sheet of silver-coated paper/mirror to observe the images of these half-cube so as to recognise the reflectional symmetry in cubes. Students can find that some planes are the planes of reflectional symmetry of the cube (Questions 1-2 in Part A of Section 2 in Worksheet1).

5.

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6.

The teacher may also use the powerpoint 3D Figure_ReflnSym.ppt2 to assist in demonstrating the effects of reflectional symmetry in cubes. The teacher just clicks the right mouse button and drags the object to view its different orientation. Drag the red button to view the images of the half-cube in different planes of reflection and check whether the image and the other half of the cube overlap. Explain why not all planes which cut the cube into 2 equal halves (in terms of volume) are the plane of reflectional symmetry (the blue model can be used for the explanation).

7.

The teacher then asks students to draw all the planes of reflectional symmetry in cubes (Question 3 in Part A of Section 2 in Worksheet 1) and checks their answers one by one. He/She may use the software Ref_cube in 3D_Sym folder3 to show all the planes of reflectional symmetry in one picture.

The software 3D Figure_ReflnSym.pps can be downloaded from the webpage of Mathematics Education http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeid=8200&langno=1. Nevertheless, the software Cabri3D_Plugin should be installed in the computer so as to demonstrate the dynamic movement. The 3D_Sym software can be downloaded from the webpage of Mathematics Education Section http://cd1.edb.hkedcity.net/cd /maths/en/ref_res/MATERIAL/MSS_e/MSS_e%20content.htm. (Exemplar 16)

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The Reflectional Symmetry in Cubes and Regular Tetrahedra

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8.

The teacher then summarises the meaning of reflectional symmetry in 3D figures and reiterates that the plane cuts a 3D figure into 2 equal halves may not be the plane of reflectional symmetry. The teacher distributes the long white strip in the Symmetry in 3D Figures Package and explains to students on how to construct the regular tetrahedron (Questions 1-2 in Part A of Section 3 in Worksheet 1).

9.

10. Students then use a sheet of silver-coated paper to observe the image of the half-

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tetrahedron. The teacher may also use the powerpoint 3D Figure_ReflnSym.pps4 to explain the meaning of reflectional symmetry in regular tetrahedra. Through dragging the red button to change the reflectional plane, the students can then observe their corresponding images and discover when the object and the image overlap.

11. The teacher then discusses with students on whether there is reflectional symmetry in regular tetrahedra. Students check their conjectures on the number of planes of reflectional symmetry through working out Question 3 in Part A of Section 3 in Worksheet 1. The teacher may also use the software Ref_tet5 in the folder 3D_Sym to show all the planes of reflectional symmetry in the regular tetrahedron in one picture.

The software 3D Figures_ReflnSym.pps can be downloaded from the web page of the Mathematics Education Section http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeid=8200&langno=1. Nevertheless, the software Cabri3D_Plugin should be installed in the computer so as to enable the dynamic movement. The teacher can download the software 3D_Sym from the web-page of Mathematics Education Section http://cd1.edb.hkedcity.net/cd/maths/en/ref_res/MATERIAL/MSS_e/MSS_e%20content.htm (Exemplar 16).

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12. Finally, the teacher can ask students to categorise and count the number of planes of reflectional symmetry in cubes and regular tetrahedra, and complete Part B of Sections 2 and 3 in Worksheet 1. The relation between the number of vertices, edges and faces of the 3D figures, and the number of planes of reflectional symmetry can be further worked out. The name of the 3D figure which divide the cube into 2 equal halves Cuboid Triangular prism Total number Number of planes of reflectional symmetry 3 6 9 Relation with the numbers of vertices, edges and faces in the cube Number of faces 2 (i.e. 6 2) Number of edges 2 (i.e. 12 2)

Type I Type II

Only One Type

The name of the 3D figure divide the regular tetrahedron into 2 equal halves Triangular pyramid

Number of planes of reflectional symmetry 6

Relation with the numbers of vertices, edges and faces in the regular tetrahedron Same as the number of edges

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