During the last week of school one of my classes explored dilatations. It was a rather short lesson since there were only a couple days of school left. After some review, I pulled out a project from last year and thought might be applicable since it addressed the same standard for that particular day. I looked it over and made a few changes so this year it would run smoother. Here’s what changed:
- I had the students create an exact 4cm by 6cm grid using rulers. This was different than my initial project. I made sure to check each grid before students moved on to the next step. I’m not a fan of having a simple mistake or unclear directions derail an entire project (which it did for some last year) – so I decided to check each students initial grid.
- I also created a random piece to the amount of dilation this time around. This picture is from last year’s post.
Last year students already knew the grid to use and basically used a “paint by number” approach to fill in each square. Although that was fun, it didn’t really hit the objectives as much as I’d like. I had students roll a die to determine the dilation this time. This gave four different options for students.
- I put together a criteria for success component where students could check-off items when completed. I set up the different dimension papers on one of the tables so students could easily grab them depending on their dilation. I also added a short debrief piece near the end of the project where students discussed how they increased the size of the image.
These changes helped improve this particular project and I believe it created a better learning experience for the students. There are times where I completely scrap a project and other times I make tweaks in order to make it better. I opted for the second option this time around.
* Next year I’m planning on updating the project to include dilations that involve reducing the size of an image.
Educational Aspirations 