Transformers + Transformations

One of the most surprisingly confusing subjects I have taught has been transformations. I think it is because there are a lot of rules and students usually have them scattered all over their notes and don’t remember which rule goes with what. So as a result of that, I have created a TRANSFORMERS graphic organizer! A graphic organizer helps me know how their notes are organized, and lets me organize them in a way that I believe is less confusing for students. And the Transformers addition is because I have often found that the more relatable something is to the students the less eye-rolling and”why do we have to learn math” comments/questions I get.

I usually use my iPad to take notes for the students, and graphic organizers like this are a great way for me to present the information quickly and efficiently!

*I have attached a blank WS as well as my iPad edited worksheet that I did with the students in class. Excuse the poor stylus handwriting! 🙂

Blank Document: Transformations

Edited Document: (aka Answer Key)

Cartoon Dilating

I love adding influences from other classes into my classroom! So last week, in my Advanced Math class, we were reviewing Transformations such as dilations, rotations, reflections, translations, with some inverse functions thrown in there. After a pretty rigorous week of dusting off cob webs and re-learning material, I decided to let them have some fun with dilating. Instead of dilating boring shapes and squares, I asked the students to each bring in their favorite cartoon. I think this is a really fun way to turn something that can be a simple but boring lesson into a simple but fun lesson.

To introduce the lesson I asked the students to bring in a cartoon for homework, then the next day in class they broke up their cartoon into different measure of increments (some used cm, some used 1/2 inches, inches). I gave them each a piece of graph paper and asked them to enlarge (or reduce) the image they had as much as they could that would fit onto the graph paper, making sure they were able to specify the scale factor they chose. I made an example the night before because, as suspected, the students were a little skeptical because they were “bad artists.” Since they have seen my terrible drawing in class, my example turned all of them into believers and they were all excited to try dilating their cartoon.

Below is the example I made, I dilated the image by a scale factor of 2:

I think this activity worked great, and was a nice break from the rules and formulas they had to learn for the other aspects of transformations.