A Semi- Detailed Lesson Plan in Teaching the Steps in Constructing Kaleidoscope using

Geometer Sketchpad
I. Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, 80% of the students should be able to:

1. Access the tools in geometer sketchpad vr. 5

2. Demonstrate the steps in constructing figures using geometer sketchpad vr. 5.
3. Apply concepts of geometer sketchpad to construct a figure.

II. Subject Matter

A. Topic: Geometer Sketchpad Vr. 5
B. Reference: Geometer Sketchpad Learning Guide
C. Materials: Laptops and overhead projectors
D. Strategies/ Methods Use: ICT Integration, Collaborative Learning
E. Values Integration: Perseverance and Collaboration

Teacher’s Activity

A. Preliminary Activity
B. Motivation
C. Lesson Proper

For millennia, drawing and visualization have been important parts of mathematics. A primary skill
taught in geometry classes has long been compass and straightedge construction; in algebra, it’s been
function plotting. Paper-and-pencil work will always have an important place in math classrooms, but it
has two major drawbacks: It’s time-consuming, and the finished products are static. It’s easy to see how
a computer program like The Geometer’s Sketchpad can solve the time problem: Commands such as
Angle Bisector and Reflect instantly perform tasks that would take a much longer time with pencil and
paper, allowing you to construct and explore many more—and much more complex—figures in a given
amount of time.

Figures such as kaleidoscope and other creative visuals can be constructed using the application.
Today, we will be making our own kaleidoscope.

The Geometer’s Sketchpad Kaleidoscopes

The purpose of this activity is to create a kaleidoscope using The Geometer’s Sketchpad and to learn
about using animation in the process. This set of instructions will walk you through a step-by step
process. We will begin by constructing one “arm” of the kaleidoscope.

1. Open a new sketch and use the Segment tool to construct a closed polygon with as many sides as
you would like. Be sure to keep the polygon relatively slender so that when we make copies of the figure,
the copies will not overlap much (if at all).

2. In this polygon, construct some interiors by adding some line segments.

 3. We now want to color each of the segments.

(a) Deselect all.

(b) Choose any one of the interior segments and select each of the vertices of this figure in order.
It does not matter if this is done clockwise or counter-clockwise.

(c) In the Construct menu, select Triangle Interior or Quadrilateral Interior, whichever applies.

(d) While the interior is highlighted, right-click on the interior and select color from the meu that
appears. Change the color to whatever you’d like.

(e) Repeat this process for each of the interior regions, using whatever colors you would like,
but remember - your kaleidoscope will be more interesting if you use varied colors.

4. Deselect all and then double-click on the bottom vertex. This will mark this vertex as the center.

5. Click on the Point tool and then in the Edit menu, choose select all points.

6. In the Display menu, choose Hide All Points.

7. Click on the Selection Arrow and make a box around the entire polygon you have created.

8. In the Transform menu, choose Rotate. Enter whatever value you would like for the angle of
rotation (must be a divisor of 360◦ ). I suggest using 60◦ , since too small would make too many “arms”
of the kaleidoscope and too large an angle would make the kaleidoscope look sparse.

9. Repeat this process until you have make your way all the way around (i.e. until your kaleidoscope
looks complete). Note : be sure to rotate the original arm each time and not the copies that are
produced by the rotations.

10. In the Display menu, select Show All Hidden. What should reappear are all of the points from the
original copy of the figure.

11. Using the Circle tool, create a circle with center at he center of the figure and circumference just
larger than the outside point of the original copy. 1

12. Repeat the process for each region of the original “arm”; that is create a circle centered at the
center of the figure that extends just past each segment that makes an edge of the original figure.

13. Choose the Selection Arrow and deselect all.

14. Select one of the points of the original “arm” near the outside circle and select the outside circle
(do not select the control point on this circle, however).

15. In the Edit menu, select Merge Point to Circle. The point from the figure you chose will move
until it is on the circle.

16. Repeat this for each of the circles you created by choosing a point on each of the circles (do not
use the same point for different circles).

17. Deselect all and then select the points from the original figure that you just merged to the
circles.
 18. In the Edit menu, select Animation in the Action Buttons submenu and press OK.

19. Choose the Point tool and in the Edit menu, choose Select All Points.

20. In the Display menu, select Hide All Points.

21. Choose the Circle and in the Edit menu, choose Select All Circles.

22. In the Display menu, choose Hide All Circles. 23. The Animate button will appear on the screen.

Press this button to watch the kaleidoscope turn. If you would like, you can change the speed of the
rotations or the directions. To do so, right-click on the Animate button. A dialog box will appear which
has one listing for each of the points/circles that you animated earlier. There are pull-down menus for
direction and speed that can be changed individually while each line is highlighted. Experiment with
speeds and direction to create as dizzying a kaleidoscope as you would like.

D. Post Activity

Construct your own Kaleidoscope using Geometer Sketchpad Vr. 5.

E. Generalization

What have you learned?

(Teacher calls a student to generalize the lesson.)

Prepared by:
Quintino, Maria Erika F.