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reSolve: Bifold Boxes

Teacher guide reSolve: Bifold Boxes

TLF ID M025814

This lesson challenges students to use proportional reasoning to explain how changing the size of a square will affect the size of a box folded from that square. Students fold an origami box from a square of paper and record the dimensions of the resulting box. They then fold a box from a square of paper four times the area, and explore how this changes the dimensions of the new box. The lesson is outlined in detail including curriculum links, vocabulary, materials needed, discussion points, a slide show describing how to fold the box and a link to a video demonstration. This sequence is part of the reSolve: Maths by Inquiry program.

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Educational details

Educational value
  • This resource is valuable for the year 5 mathematics content description about connecting three-dimensional objects with two-dimensional representations. Students are challenged to create a three-dimensional object (a box) from a series of two-dimensional diagrams and instructions. As they build their shape, they must constantly switch between two-dimensional and three-dimensional thinking and then extend this as they apply a scale transformation answer an inquiry question.
  • This resource is valuable for the year 5 mathematics content description about applying the enlargement transformation to familiar two-dimensional shapes. Students explore in two dimensions how enlarging the side of their square of paper affects the resulting area, and also in three dimensions how this scale factor affects the size of their constructed boxes.
  • The resource is also extremely valuable for supporting the Numeracy general capability. The lesson provides multiple opportunities for students to visualise, describe and apply their understanding of the features and properties of 2D shapes and 3D objects and create and interpret 2D and 3D models and diagrams
  • This resource is also of pedagogical value as it supports teachers in building an inquiry-focused learning environment with authentic application of mathematical skills and understandings. The unit aims to develop content knowledge as well as assisting students to understand the process of inquiry.
Year level

5

Topics Solids (Geometry) Reasoning Nets (Geometry) Origami Dilation
Learning area
  • Mathematics

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Australian Government Department of Education and Training
  • Organization: Australian Government Department of Education and Training
  • Publisher
  • Name: Australian Academy of Science
  • Organization: Australian Academy of Science
  • Description: Publisher
  • URL: https://www.science.org.au/
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Online
Rights
  • © Australian Government Department of Education and Training 2017. Unless otherwise indicated, this material may be used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.