Transformation

If You’re Teaching Kids about Transforming 2D Shapes, Then You’re In The right place! Engage & Motivate your Kindergarten to Year 6 Primary School Students with these FUN, Interactive, Hands-on Math Activities For All Things Flip, Slide, Turn & Dilation!

Transformations can be found everywhere. You don’t have to go far to find one, which makes teaching kids about transforming 2D shapes relevant, and a lot of fun!

Transformations are movements through space. We see them as a repeating pattern. Transformations are part of our everyday lives and we don’t even know it!

There are so many examples of transformation processes, and the range is so diverse:

walking, skipping and running
a factory machine that makes thousands of bottles
the movement of a robotic Mars Rover
strumming a guitar
the twists and turns of a roller-coaster
mosaics, art & graphic design

So many professions use transformation skills, including Architects, Artists, and Designers. They use transformation understanding to create and design patterns which can be used in so many different areas, including:

textiles
buildings
models
flooring
gaming
films
interior design
graphics
furniture

I like to start a unit on transformations by encouraging students to find examples of flip, slide & turns around the classroom, school & environment.

Teaching Transforming 2D Shapes

Teaching Transforming 2D Shapes is a Measurement & Geometry topic, and it’s part of the Location & Transformation sub-strand area.

Teaching Flip, Slides, Turns, Dilations & Symmetry is taught from Year 2 onwards. Notice that not ALL areas are covered in all year levels.

The essence of Teaching Transformations is to enable students to develop their ability to identify the properties of shapes and objects and how they can be combined. This is an important range of spatial reasoning skills that are used to solve problems in a range of real-life situations and occupations.

Knowledge of how certain shapes will tessellate allows tilers, paving companies and architects to design spaces efficiently and creatively. Symmetry is a fundamental aspect of geometry both in the environment and in design.

Transformation Concept Vocabulary

Here’s some basic definitions about transformation geometry:

Transformation

A transformation is where 2D shapes are repeated using flips, slides and turns. When you transform a shape, it stays the same shape and size but it can change direction.

Flip

Flips are also know as reflections. To make a flip pattern, take an exact copy of your shapes and reflect it across an axis of symmetry or mirror line. A flip creates a MIRROR Image of the original shape and can be in any direction. Some shapes look exactly the same when they have been reflected, which can confuse your students into thinking all shapes will look the same when they are reflected!

Slide

Slides are also known as Translations. A slide pattern is created by moving your original shape without turning or flipping it. You can move up, down, forwards and back. You can even overlap shapes in a slide transformation. Just make sure that each shape in the pattern is still facing the same direction as the first shape.

Turn

Turns are also know as rotations. To make a rotation pattern, turn shapes around a point and copy them into the new position. Turns can be made clockwise and anticlockwise. The rotation can be an infinite number of degrees. Introduce students to quarter turns, 90° and half turns, 180°

Dilation

Dilation are enlargements or reductions. They are transformations that produce an image that is the same shape but a different size. Dilations that produce bigger sized images are Enlargements and dilations that create smaller images are known as reductions.

Symmetry

A shape, object or image has symmetry or is symmetrical when one half of the shape can fit exactly over the other half. Some shapes can have more than one line of symmetry.

Line Symmetry

A shape, drawing or image has line symmetry if one half is a reflection of the other half. The ‘mirror line’ line cuts the shape into 2 mirror images.

Rotational Symmetry

A shape or image has rotational symmetry when it looks the same after it has been rotated by less that 360°

Flip, Slide, Turns, Dilation Geometry Teacher Resources

To help students build their visualisation skills we hacked a K-Mart Mini Lazy Susan! It really helped the students learn how to visualise the rotations in their heads! You could also use paper plates or card and split pins too!

Check out our video and make your own Transformation Rotation Wheel!

Resources listed in this collection

Click to jump to...

Transforming 2D Shapes Vocabulary Thinkboards
Flip - Slide - Turn 2D Shapes Puzzles
Reflect - Translate - Rotate 2D Shapes Puzzles
Flip - Slide - Turn Spinner Games
Flip - Slide - Turn - Pattern Block Numbers Activity
Flip - Slide - Turn - Pattern Block Numbers POWERPOINT