Section 5: Teaching transformations

Key Focus Question: How can you develop confident mental modelling in geometry?

Keywords: congruence; translation; reflection; transformation; multigrade; differentiation; practical

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this section, you will have:

  • introduced pupils to transformation, congruence, translation and reflection;
  • used cut-out shapes as a means to develop the mental transformation of geometric shapes;
  • considered the challenges of differentiating this work for older and younger pupils, and tried some different approaches.

Introduction

In our daily lives we see many examples of shapes that have been modified (changed) or transformed.

This section will help you develop your own subject knowledge about geometry and transformation, as well as your skills in developing your pupils’ understanding. Most of the resources in this section, therefore, are to support your subject knowledge as a teacher of mathematics.

1. Using practical work