Fall SAVY 2019: Day 2 – Spatial Smarts (Grades 3/4)
Dear SAVY Parents,
I was so thankful for cartographers and the fine work they do with spatial reasoning today! Our class met in a different building, but thanks to my online map and some spatial reasoning skills I have acquired, I made it to class in plenty of time! Phew! How do cartographers deconstruct and reconstruct visual representations in order to complete the task of helping people to understand geographic areas? What understandings are needed for a cartographer in order to understand or create a map or design a digital app for wayfinding?
There’s a lot of mathematics that goes into 2D and 3D imaging. Looking at the Peabody Campus map, we saw lots of polygons. So first, we solidified our understanding of polygons (several of them) with Mr. Knight’s Quadralateral Conundrum! We had so much fun discussing, justifying, and problem-solving. Additionally, we went back to cover some “old business” from last week involving symmetry. We leaned some systematic approaches to creating symmetrical images or sets of images. How could this skill of clarity in communication be helpful in programming a computer in designing a visual dashboard or map representation?
Because of all the hard work, we decided to practices our skills in a few game formats. Game On! Swish, Shapeometery, and Tangelos were really challenging to our vocabulary and reasoning, but so fun! Can our work be fun? We’re not sure what this professional does, but we agreed he has some cool 3D mapping skills! After class, I wondered if he could be an artist? The student’s and I considered a more practical application in working to display possible geological structures for understanding natural resources of designing structures around fault lines.
We hope you can make it to Parent Open House this Saturday from 2:15-2:45pm. More details will be coming in your parent email this week. We are eager to share our learning with you!
Mrs. Byrd
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