Seeing Symmetry (Blog Post 3)

Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy

Synopsis: The picture book starts off showing examples of things we know of or see every day, such as words, butterflies, and a Triceratops. It explains that if you can fold a shape exactly in half, then it has symmetry. If each half is a mirror image of the other half, it has symmetry. And if each half is flipped over like a reflection it is symmetrical. She goes on showing examples of animals and how they are symmetrical, such as sea turtles, beetles, toads, lizards, penguins, and whales. Of coarse, she makes it clear that nature is rarely exact. She later goes ahead and shows that our bodies are also symmetrical; from our hands to our noses. Later, she explains how many letters can also show lines of symmetry, such as the letters O, A, and X. With the final pages consisting of famous art works from old times, holiday icons, and world known buildings, like the Lincoln Memorial are symmetrical. She concludes that almost everywhere we look, we will find symmetry. The last page of the book however is really great because it explains why symmetry is an important math concept. Math is about more than numbers- it's also the study of patterns, order, and comparisons. Transformations are also connected to symmetry as explained by her book. A flip, or reflection, creates a mirror image as in line symmetry, while a turn, or rotation, is the way rotational symmetry is formed. And slides, or translations, are one or more moves along a straight line.

Explain Concepts: When presented with images of animals, faces, and buildings we are told that they have symmetrical lines running through them. It is an easy way for us to picture symmetry. This connects to symmetry in graphing also. When we have a quadratic formula, and see a parabola in the graph, we see that the parabola is symmetrical. But we have to identify whether or not the parabola has y-axis symmetry or x-axis symmetry which is the same as vertical or horizontal symmetry as explained by the book. A perfect example of this would be the letters. The letter A can be split vertically, but the letter B can only be split horizontally.

Explain Effectiveness: This is a really great way to show the simpleness behind symmetry. If we look at every day objects we already know it's easier to picture that and use that as a basis for symmetry than in graphing. If we already have in our mindsets that symmetry can be this easy to distinguish, then it becomes easier for us, as we progress into harder math classes, to understand symmetry in graphs, shapes, and much more in the world of mathematics. Also, this is an effective way for kids of a younger age to actually understand the whole concept of symmetry because if one was to explain it to them in normal math terms and in a graph, it would probably be harder for them to understand. Also, people are more inclined to doing things that are more interesting/easier for them to understand, so literature in this case helps/encourages many to dive into the world of mathematics.