Turtle Symmetry. Teacher's Guide

Abstract

This document is the seventh of seven units developed by the Math Network Curriculum Project. Each unit, designed to be a 2-week module, is a teacher's guide which includes detailed directions along with the courseware and software needed. Teacher intervention in the non-computer activities that begin each unit is required, and the consistent use of small-group instruction makes the units usable in a standard classroom if two microcomputers are present. The Turtle Symmetry Unit helps students to learn to identify and draw designs by employing the principles of mirror symmetry and rotational symmetry. They also study and create "families" of designs--sets of designs which have common characteristics yet differ in patterned ways. This unit requires class use of the Turtleworks computer program (developed by Bill Finzer) and included with the teacher's guide to Turtle Geometry. It was developed for use on a Commodore PET Computer with at least 16K of RAM using 4.0 BASIC. (MNS)