Hexagon Hunt

The Ministry is migrating nzmaths content to Tāhurangi.           
Relevant and up-to-date teaching resources are being moved to Tāhūrangi (tahurangi.education.govt.nz). 
When all identified resources have been successfully moved, this website will close. We expect this to be in June 2024. 
e-ako maths, e-ako Pāngarau, and e-ako PLD 360 will continue to be available. 

For more information visit https://tahurangi.education.govt.nz/updates-to-nzmaths

Purpose

This is a level 4 geometry strand activity from the Figure It Out series.

A PDF of the student activity is included.

Achievement Objectives
GM4-5: Identify classes of two- and three-dimensional shapes by their geometric properties.
GM4-8: Use the invariant properties of figures and objects under transformations (reflection, rotation, translation, or enlargement).
Student Activity

Click on the image to enlarge it. Click again to close. Download PDF (752 KB)

Specific Learning Outcomes

identify attributes of polygons

rotate an object

Required Resource Materials

bucket of pattern blocks

small pencil or pointer

Copymaster of gameboards and dice

tape or glue

scissors

FIO, Level 4, Geometry, Book One, Hexagon Hunt, page 6

1 or 2 classmates

Activity

This game explores the different ways in which pattern blocks can be used to make a hexagon. It reinforces what students learned in Activity One of Shaping Up (page 2 of the studentsÕ book). It could also be used as an introduction to that activity.
Making the two 4-sided dice is an activity in its own right. The simplest method is to photocopy the copymaster outlines onto thin card. Alternatively, the nets for the dice are simple to construct using a compass and ruler.
Encourage your students to make the best dice they can and to label them tidily.
The game board is modelled on a clock face, with 12 divisions. This is the smallest number that can be conveniently divided into quarters, thirds, and halves, following the instructions on the dice. Check that all your students know which direction is clockwise and which is anticlockwise.
When a 4-sided dice has been thrown, the only outcome that can be identified with certainty is which face is on the bottom, so this is the "winning" face of the throw. The students can, of course, lift the dice to find
out what is on this face, but with a little practice, they will be able to "read" it without lifting the dice (by checking the 3 visible faces to find which action is missing).
As an extension, the students could construct their own hexagon within a
circle, as in the diagram. To do this, they use a compass to draw a circle
of suitable size, and then (without changing the radius) they use the compass
to mark off equal arcs around the circumference. They then join the marked
points on the circumference to complete the hexagon. If they make 2
hexagons of the same size, they can divide the second one into a trapezium,
a rhombus, and an equilateral triangle so that they have a complete set of
all the shapes used in the game.

hex.

Answers to Activity

Practical activity (making the dice) and a game that involves using rotation and pattern blocks to make hexagons.

Attachments
Add to plan

Log in or register to create plans from your planning space that include this resource.


Level Four