The Curriculum Through ICT Program

Ideas Bank

Constructing & Reconstructing

THE TASK

This was one of a number of concrete tasks in which students were learning about 3D shape and transformations. This task investigated representations of 3D space using 2D images and visualising how shapes look from different positions.

Students constructed Duplo© models and photographed them from 4 positions (front, left, right and back). After printing the photos, other students reconstructed the models. Finally the original and completed models were compared. Discussion centred around the issues encountered in reconstructing the models and how they could be constructed to make it possible or impossible to reconstruct them accurately.

In a similar activity, students can be asked to work with the images only, selecting one of the four images as a “front view” and identifying “left view”, “right view” and “back view”.

ICT ENRICHMENT

• Difficult or impossible to provide this kind of learning opportunity without digital photography.
• Multiple learning modes used – concrete materials, visual representations through digital photographs, oral discussion.

SUGGESTED RESOURCES

• Example construction photographs

ASSESSMENT

• Monitoring the students' achievement of this learning outcome is best achieved over-the-shoulder by observation and questioning.

LEARNING AREA OUTCOMES

Mathematics
Space
Represent spatial ideas

Learning activity developed by David Katz & Kaye Treacy.