Our class had a very enjoyable numeracy lesson today in which they were further exploring nets of 3D shapes and developing their ability to visualise them. We used SMART Notebook on the class laptops to help record our work as well as Google Earth for our shape of the week.
This week we have been exploring nets of 3D shapes and for the lesson’s “Shape of the Week” starter I had Google Earth running with the Pyramids (Egypt) placemarked – we zoomed, from right out in space, into the location of these great monuments. (I still love the awe and wonder of that, so do the kids!) It was a good link with our Ancient Egyptian history topic. I had switched on the 3D Buildings layer and I panned and moved about the modelled pyramids. We then spent some time talking about the properties of square based pyramids, their nets and the pyramid family in general. I scribed their ideas straight onto Google Earth using the SMARTBoard pens and annotated the pyramids. I good start to the session.
For the main part of the lesson and the independent task I wanted the children to visualise the top and the bottom of a net. Which face in a cube net does not move and which would become the top of the cube? So we combined the practical use of Clixi with a SMART Notebook that allowed the children to easily recreate and record the nets.
I shared a notebook file on the network, which the children accessed and opened on their own laptop. The children were working in pairs on their numeracy tables. They made the possible nets with the Clixi and then generating the same net in the notebook from some infinite cloned shapes I had setup. I then wanted them to colour the top RED and the bottom GREEN to show they understood how the net behaved when folded. The technology was not complex but it allowed them to quickly recreate the nets and show what was needed – less time was spent recording due to the technology. Which meant that more time was spent visualising how the net worked, exploring the Clixi nets they had made and discussing the possibilities in their pairs.
I was really pleased with the progress made throughout the lesson as the children discussed and explored the nets of cubes, cuboids and pentagonal prisms. I was equally impressed, however not surprised, in the successful way the blended learning resources worked – how they complimented each other and how the no frills technology began to become invisible amidst the learning going on.
Another application you may want to try with the Smartboard is called Edusim, its a 3D learning world tool kit – it also supports Google Sketchup models (mentioned above). Doing a Google search of Edusim should bring up the resources.
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That’s a fantastic idea for a lesson – also really enjoyed the 17 uses for a video camera in the classroom. We did a series of lessons along these lines in 2008 with ESOL students in the classroom here in New Zealand (English as a Second Language) which became “Learn to Speak Samoan” (and eventually morphed into Learn to Speak Tongan/Fijian and Maori) which the students loved producing and was a great way to share their cultures… great blog….
Looks like a great lesson- proper joined up learning. I used to teach Year 5 last year but am now in secondary and I did a related lesson with a Year 7 group this week. It uses the aforementioned Google SketchUp and some resources from the excellent Cre8ate website. Details on my school blog.
Fantastic Tom – good to see you using Google Earth to teach shape. I wish this had been available to me when I was teaching this aspect of maths.
Hi Tom, Great post on combining these technologies.
Have you seen Google Sketch up? I just discovered it today. It’s meant for building 3D models, but I think it would work well as an easy way to explore 3D shapes with a class.
What a wonderful way to combine the use of two powerful technologies to extend learning. Your students are very lucky!
This is a great idea using Google Earth and the nets. I like it so much I want to adapt it for my own students. Thanks for the idea.