Weeks 8-9 Reflection

In week 8 we talked about Geometry and spatial sense. We had a great learning activity as we discussed the properties and rules regarding finding area and perimeter. We had a minds on with simple polygons and then moved to finding the perimeter of a house, as well as all of the rooms inside of it. At the beginning of the actual lesson however, we reviewed some of the big ideas in the JI strands; Properties of two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional figures, geometric relationships, location and movement, application of geometric properties in real life. Additionally, we reviewed the 5 levels of Van Hiele's theory, being; Level 0 (recognition), Level 1 (Analysis), Level 2 (Relationships), Level 3 (Deduction), Level 4 (Aximatics). Adding onto these concepts, we then reviewed some terms like; transformations, congruency, similarity, symmetry, as well as different shapes (rectangle, square, diamond, parallelogram, regular pentagon, and trapezoid.
After this, we moved onto 'learning through examples' and tried to figure how many different kinds of triangles we could make with a specific set of lines.

In week 9 we looked at measurement and started out with our learning activity again. In our class presentation, we started with a definition of measurement; "Measurement is the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event, which can be  compared with other objects or events". After that we had a discussion about what might me missing from this definition, as well as the stages in the development of measurement. We first talked about comparison (direct, seriation, indirect), Non-standard (quantification, constant unit), and standard SI-units. From this point, it was a good way to transition into the benefits and importance behind using the metric system. The metric system is simple to use as there is only one type of measurement for each type of quantity, and there are only a few base units. After these clarifications, we moved onto teaching through problem solving; here we talked about estimation in regards to measuring the length of the rooms. This gave us a good look into the importance of having an idea of the relative size of objects and the space around you. From here we moved into the concept of visualization as well as experience. All of these aspects are very important when trying to estimate area and perimeter because they all build onto each other and will make understanding the concepts more palatable.

In conclusion, the two weeks were very good as they built on each other nicely. We also had our focus shift outside of class, as we were tasked with selecting two games from our games forums to review and make a presentation about. This was interesting as it allowed us to recall past units and concepts as well as obtaining a perspective about the games from each group member. As a group, we decided on space race multiplication as well as dirt bike proportions. These two games were both very pleasing aesthetically as well as very easy to play, and extremely relevant to the course curriculum. Another large factor for these games, came down to the ability to either play them single player or with friends. We feel like this is important, because similar to our 'learning through examples', as we bounce our ideas off group members and have conversations, it creates more engagement in the content.