Covering a 3D Object

There is always someone who wants to use a ruler. I think he's doing more tracing of the side of the shape than he is with the ruler. Interesting enough, he did end up creating a net,  it was about 1 cm larger than it needed to be. 

He knows he needs to wrap the shape and not overlap the paper but he cut it too short. 

Getting close.

She's trying to hand draw the shape. Tracing isn't something that comes naturally to them. It's about measuring at least the basics of it (area & permimeter) and using what you have to help with creating that amount of space. 

This student used the other students' strategies and figured it out. She's the one in the far back corner just working her little heart out. 

She is also really close to getting it. She decided to trace the larger rectangle but then didn't trace the others. She tried to cut the shapes which is quite common with students doing this task. 

This student is so close. They've thought about each of the sides but what they don't realize is the shape only has two large rectangles, 2 skinny rectangles and 2 smaller rectangles.  

Today's task was to work on covering a 3D object but there was certain criteria they needed to follow.

1. They couldn't have any overlapping paper. 

2. They couldn't use tape or glue. 

3. The paper needed to cover all of the shape. 

From the pictures above some of them had some really good strategies. It is amazing is watch and see how they process the information and eventually come up with an answer. My goal in doing this task is tenfold. It's about so many things that I hope to reflect below. 

As I looked back on the images today and reflected again on this task (I've done this several times over the years) it is about space, and of course shape, but it's more than that. It's also about measuring, area and perimeter and knowing the shapes on the object, how large or small they are, knowing you've got enough paper to cover the whole side/object. Being flexible in your thinking, trying something new, being creative about how something worked or didn't work. It's definitely about problem solving and perseverance. It's about being entrepreneurial and engaged. I could go ove but I'm not going to. It's like a puzzle and the more I'm learning, our brain likes puzzles and problems to solve. It is such a rich task. I guess that's why I come back to it each year. 

This will lead into our investigation into building a paper box/net to hold a penguin. It also lends itself into learning there is not one way to build a net for a 3D object. Does the cube always need to make the traditional 't' shape? Or is there more than one way to build a net for any 3D object? We'll explore these questions in the going days.