Browse lesson plans

Flipping around pentominoes

The students will use Unifix cubes to create the twelve different pentominoes. The students will join 5 Unifix cubes to make different shapes that will lie flat on a table or level surface. The students will then test for new shapes by flipping, sliding, or turning to create each different pentomino.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 8 Mathematics)

By Dianne Wingate.

Translations, reflections, rotations

This lesson will allow students to explore translations, reflections, and rotations using a resource of Shodor Education Foundation, Inc. Permission has been granted for the use of the materials as part of the workshop Interactivate Your Math Students. Students explore the world of translations, reflections, and rotations in the Cartesian coordinate system by transforming squares, triangles and parallelograms. Parameters: Shape, x or y translation, x or y reflection, angle of rotation. (Italics are a direct quote from Shodor.org.)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Mathematics)

By Deborah Bourne.

Resources on the web

Analyzing designs

In this lesson, students explore the geometric transformations of rotation, reflection, and translation. They create a design and then, using flips, turns, and slides, make a four-part paper “mini-quilt” square with that design as the basis.... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations

Exploring flips and slides

In this lesson, students explore the geometric transformations of reflection and translation. Students create a design and then, using flips and slides, make a four-part paper “mini-quilt” using that design as the basis. While the formal terms... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations

Figuring in football

In this lesson, one of a five-part unit from Illuminations titled “Mathematics and Football,” students examine the influences of pattern, symmetry, and design in the real world, by looking at a football field. A football field has numerous figures... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations

Planning and making a mini-quilt

In this lesson, students create a quilt using three transformations (reflection, rotation, and translation) and then investigate the ways shapes can be colored to show “one-half” and “one-fourth.” They also locate lines of symmetry... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations

Tangram puzzles

In this lesson from Illuminations, students choose a picture and use all seven Tangram pieces to fill in the outline. They describe and visualize what figures look like when they are transformed through rotations or flips, or are put together or taken apart... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations