Mathematics / Year 6 / Measurement and Geometry / Location and transformation

Curriculum content descriptions

Investigate combinations of translations, reflections and rotations, with and without the use of digital technologies (ACMMG142)

Elaborations
  • designing a school or brand logo using transformation of one or more shapes
  • understanding that translations, rotations and reflections can change the position and orientation but not shape or size
General capabilities
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Translation (Geometry),  Reflection (Geometry),  Rotation

Video

Catalyst: Measuring our coastline

How long is the Australian coastline? See Dr Derek Muller and Simon Pampena discussing the perimeter of the Australian coastline. Find out how the accuracy of that measurement depends on the length of the 'measuring stick' used. They discuss how a coastline is much like a fractal such as 'Koch's Snowflake'!

Online

Transformation: Year 6 – planning tool

This planning resource for Year 6 is for the topic of Transformation. Students continue to develop their understanding and skills in transformations including reflections (flips), translations (slides) and rotations (turns).

Downloadable

Change course

Students identify transformations, and rotational and line symmetry, in regular and irregular polygons, and use transformations and symmetry to make a tessellating shape.

Video

MathXplosion, Ep 50: How to use a tetrahedron to solve the tree problem

How can you place four trees exactly the same distance apart from one other? By making a model! By using miniature trees to make a model of the problem, it becomes clear that a 2D solution is impossible. We learn how objects can help us visualise the problem situation, which in this case requires a 3D solution: a tetrahedron.

Video

ABC News: Mapping a sea voyage: calculating distance

Scientists involved in the Two Bays Project describe data collection methods for their 20-day expedition around Port Phillip and Western Port bays. Watch this clip to view the route mapped out by the scientists. Use Google Maps to recreate the route and calculate the total distance travelled.

Video

MathXplosion, Ep 34: Kite symmetry

Unfurl the secret of symmetry used in kites to make them fly! A kite in geometry looks a lot like a kite in the sky. We see that a kite is a special quadrilateral in which one of its two diagonals (long and short) is also its axis of symmetry, and if you fold the kite along that diagonal, the two halves will match up exactly ...

Online

Secondary mathematics: different representations

These seven learning activities, which focus on 'representations' using a variety of tools (software) and devices (hardware), illustrate the ways in which content, pedagogy and technology can be successfully and effectively integrated in order to promote learning. In the activities, teachers use different representations ...

Interactive

Cassowary ecology quiz

Explore facts about the life of cassowaries: physical characteristics; diet; habitat; life cycles; and locations. Interact with graphs to see how much people can help cassowaries. Work through ecology notes and resources. Answer questions as you go; express your answers as fractions. This learning object is one in a series ...

Video

What are pixels?

Meet Kevin Systrom and Piper Hanson as they explain how digital images work. What are pixels, those tiny dots of light, made from? How are colours created and represented? What does Kevin say about the way mathematical functions are used to create different image filters. What is the difference between image resolution ...

Video

BTN: Yes, fashion designers need maths skills!

Are you interested in becoming a fashion designer? Or an architect? Or a pilot? Did you know that you need maths skills to succeed in all of these careers? Watch this video to learn how fashion designer Cristina uses maths in her work. How does architect Thomas use it? And why is maths important to pilot Paul? Can you think ...

Online

reSolve: Spatial Reasoning - Right Angles

In this sequence of two lessons, students create and identify right angles. In the first lesson, students use popsicle sticks to create right angles and investigate how many right angles can be created for a given number of sticks. Students then go on to create eight sided polygons with different combinations of internal ...

Video

Area of a square and a triangle

Do you know the formula for working out the area of a square? How about a triangle? Watch this short maths video to learn the formulas for both.

Video

MathXplosion, Ep 33: On the grid

Explore graphs, grids and mapping with a focus on reading and writing location data using coordinate geometry. Grids and maps illustrate the concepts of parallel/perpendicular lines (axes or labelled number lines), ordered pairs and intersection points.

Video

Modelling climate changes

There is a saying: 'climate is what you expect and weather is what you get'. |Understanding climate change is very difficult for most people, especially when the weather we experience is different from the information we are given by scientists about the climate changing. The difference is that weather reflects short-term ...

Video

Spiral away with Fibonacci

Do you know the Fibonacci sequence? Learn how to draw a cool spiral as Vi Hart shows you an easy way. See how a spiral is an example of Fibonacci numbers. Vi shows examples of spirals from nature. You might be surprised at some of her examples! This is the first in a series.

Video

The amazing 'angle-a-tron'

Lost your protractor? Well, find out how to make an 'angle-a-tron'. This might just be the coolest mathematical tool you've ever used. Measure all sorts of angles. It's easy with an angle-a-tron!

Video

Working out the areas

Do you know how to work out the area of a square, a rectangle or a triangle? Learn the simple maths formulas needed from this video. What would be the area of a rectangle with a height of 5cm and a length of 3cm?

Video

What skills are important for programming robots?

Listen as David McKinnon from UNSW describes some of the skills that are useful to have if you want to program robots. David explains an activity that exercises problem solving skills. Why don't you try doing it? Look at a map and find some towns that are close to yours. Use the scale on the map to work out the distances ...

Online

reSolve: Location - My Place in Space

This series of two lessons explores locating points and calculating distances using the Cartesian plane. In the first lesson, students locate and describe points on the Cartesian plane using ordered pairs of coordinates. They then search for squares on a given plane and find the side lengths of the squares. In the second ...

Interactive

Nets of three-dimensional solids

This is a five-page HTML resource about solving problems with nets of three-dimensional solids. It contains one video and three questions, two of which are interactive. The resource discusses and explains solving problems with nets of three-dimensional solids to reinforce students' understanding.