Exploring 2D Shapes Through Paper Folding Go to Articles
Polygons made from folded A-series metric paper provide an engaging way to explore two-dimensional shapes. Being able to physically pick up and move the shapes helps develop and reinforce understanding of their geometric properties. For example, students can
- fold shapes in half to confirm reflective symmetry
- overlay angles and sides to compare sizes and lengths
- easily make multiple copies of a shape to check if it tessellates
- flip, slide, and turn shapes to explore rigid transformations
- explore various ways of joining single shapes to make compound shapes.
This sample activity shows how folded paper polygons can be used to develop students’ understanding of compound shapes.
Shaping Up
Materials
8 sheets of A7 GEO Metric Paper for each student
Activity
- Have each pair of students make eight isosceles triangles from the A7 paper (see below).
- Ask the students to use two isosceles triangles to make a kite, a parallelogram, and a rhombus (see below). You may need to review the definitions of these shapes with the students.
- Challenge them to investigate other shapes they can make using two or more isosceles triangles. They should discover they can make trapezoids (trapeziums), hexagons, and regular octagons using three, six, and eight shapes respectively (see below).
From GEO Paper Polygons: Exploring 2D Shapes Through Paper Folding (Rev. ed.), 2007, ORIGO Education
Bibliography
Burnett, J., Irons, C., & Turton, A. (2007). GEO paper polygons: Exploring 2D shapes through paper folding (Rev. ed.). Brisbane, Australia: ORIGO Education.
