Gallichio Curriculum Comparison
Question Connected Mathematics – Symmetry (Investigation)
What South Introduction to symmetry:
Carolina 4.G.4 - Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-
College and dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that
Career Ready the figure can be folded along the line into matching
Standards are parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of
addressed in
symmetry
these lessons?
Introduction to rigid transformations:
8.GM.1 - Investigate the properties of rigid
transformations (rotations, reflections, translations)
using a variety of tools (e.g., grid paper, reflective
devices, graphing paper, technology).
8.GM.2 - Apply the properties of rigid transformations
(rotations, reflections, translations).
a. Rotate geometric figures 90, 180, and 270
degrees, both clockwise and counterclockwise,
about the origin.
b. Reflect geometric figures with respect to the
𝑥𝑥-axis and/or 𝑦𝑦-axis.
c. Translate geometric figures vertically and/or
horizontally.
8.GM.3 - Investigate the properties of transformations
(rotations, reflections, translations, dilations) using a
variety of tools (e.g., grid paper, reflective devices,
graphing paper, dynamic software).
8.GM.4 - Apply the properties of transformations
(rotations, reflections, translations, dilations).
GCO.2* - Represent translations, reflections, rotations,
and dilations of objects in the plane by using paper
Glencoe – Symmetry (Geometry)
Introduction to symmetry:
4.G.4 - Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-
dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that
the figure can be folded along the line into matching
parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of
symmetry
Prior knowledge of and reference to the knowledge of
plotting coordinate points and working in the
Cartesian plane:
6.NS.6 - Extend the understanding of the number line
to include all rational numbers and apply this concept
to the coordinate plane.
a. Understand the concept of opposite
numbers, including zero, and their relative
locations on the number line.
b. Understand that the signs of the coordinates
in ordered pairs indicate their location on an
axis or in a quadrant on the coordinate plane.
c. Recognize when ordered pairs are reflections
of each other on the coordinate plane across
one axis, both axes, or the origin.
d. Plot rational numbers on number lines and
ordered pairs on coordinate planes
6.GM.3 - Apply the concepts of polygons and the
coordinate plane to real-world and mathematical
situations.
a. Given coordinates of the vertices, draw a
polygon in the coordinate plane.
c. Graph the two sets of ordered pairs on the
folding, sketches, coordinates, function notation, and
dynamic geometry software, and use various
representations to help understand the effects of
simple transformations and their compositions.
GCO.3* - Describe rotations and reflections that carry a
regular polygon onto itself and identify types of
symmetry of polygons, including line, point, rotational,
and self-congruence, and use symmetry to analyze
mathematical situations
GCO.4* - Develop definitions of rotations, reflections,
and translations in terms of angles, circles,
perpendicular lines, parallel lines, and line segments.
GCO.5* - Predict and describe the results of
transformations on a given figure using geometric
terminology from the definitions of the
transformations, and describe a sequence of
transformations that maps a figure onto its image
same coordinate plane;
Introduction to rigid transformations:
8.GM.1 - Investigate the properties of rigid
transformations (rotations, reflections, translations)
using a variety of tools (e.g., grid paper, reflective
devices, graphing paper, technology).
8.GM.2 - Apply the properties of rigid transformations
(rotations, reflections, translations).
a. Rotate geometric figures 90, 180, and 270
degrees, .
b. Reflect geometric figures with respect to the
𝑥𝑥-axis and/or 𝑦𝑦-axis.
c. Translate geometric figures vertically and/or
horizontally.
d. Recognize that two-dimensional figures are
only congruent if a series of rigid
transformations can be performed to map the
pre-image to the image.
e. Given two congruent figures, describe the
series of rigid transformations that justifies this
congruence.
8.GM.3 - Investigate the properties of transformations
(rotations, reflections, translations, dilations) using a
variety of tools (e.g., grid paper, reflective devices,
graphing paper, dynamic software).
a. Use coordinate geometry to describe the
effect of transformations on two dimensional
figures
8.GM.4 - Apply the properties of transformations
(rotations, reflections, translations, dilations).
 b. Recognize that two-dimensional figures are
only similar if a series of transformations can
be performed to map the pre-image to the
image.
c. Given two similar figures, describe the series
of transformations that justifies this similarity.
d. Use proportional reasoning to find the
missing side lengths of two similar figures.

GCO.2* - Represent translations, reflections, rotations,

and dilations of objects in the plane by using paper
folding, sketches, coordinates, function notation, and
dynamic geometry software, and use various
representations to help understand the effects of
simple transformations and their compositions.
GCO.3* - Describe rotations and reflections that carry
a regular polygon onto itself and identify types of
symmetry of polygons, including line, point, rotational,
and self-congruence, and use symmetry to analyze
mathematical situations
GCO.4* - Develop definitions of rotations, reflections,
and translations in terms of angles, circles,
perpendicular lines, parallel lines, and line segments.
GCO.5* - Predict and describe the results of
transformations on a given figure using geometric
terminology from the definitions of the
transformations, and describe a sequence of
transformations that maps a figure onto its image
GCO.6* - Demonstrate that triangles and
quadrilaterals are congruent by identifying a
combination of translations, rotations, and reflections

What types of The forms of representations I found throughout these
representations sections on symmetries were verbal/written descriptions of
are used in the information, visual representations (usually clip-art
each of the images or geometric figures), concrete use of tools like
lessons? How mirrors to show a relationship, the use of tracing paper as a
are they tool to visually represent the different types of symmetries,
sequenced? and real-world visual representations. Each of the sections
opened with some form of visual representation a figure
with the type of symmetry that the students would be
learning of and followed the pictoral representation with a
verbal description or definition of the term. Then the book
sequenced a connection to the real-world or a trick to use
tangibles to be able to define the line of symmetry and
determine if a figure has a type of symmetry. The sections
would then provide students the space to try their hand at
identification problems for each of the symmetries in clipart
and real-world visual representations. It followed this
general format for introducing the different types of
representations in the other two sections as well, just
interspersing other types of problems in the practice pages
(rotational had students determine the angle of rotation and
make their own visuals, translation had students drawing
arrows to define the translations they made). The
in various representations that move one figure onto
the other
GSRT.2* - Use the definition of similarity to decide if
figures are similar and justify decision. Demonstrate
that two figures are similar by identifying a
combination of translations, rotations, reflections, and
dilations in various representations that move one
figure onto the other
This textbook introduced each section with a discovery
activity in which students used tangible items like trace
paper to find symmetries. Once students completed the
discovery activity, the book introduces a verbal/written
description of a term, provides plenty of visual
representations, and brings in some real-world examples of
symmetry. If the book ever used a written representation of
a concept, there would always be an accompanying visual
representation above, below, or beside the description.
This book also presented some geometric figure
representations followed by grid paper representations,
and then followed by graphing geometric figures
representations. In the reflections and translations sections,
the section opened with real world examples,
verbal/written representations, and then moved on to
graphical representations, and back to some more verbal
and visual representations. For this textbook, the practice
problems were included in each of the sections and had
students visually, graphically, and verbally represent the
different types of symmetries and transformations,
providing real-world representations of these phenomena
in each section.
 translations symmetry section didn’t introduce the first
definition with a real-world example, but incorporated other
visuals then brought in the definition, a real-world example,
and another definition. Every single problem in the
Applications, Connections, and Extensions section provided
students visuals and required students to identify
symmetries, mathematically express different rotational
angles, describe symmetries, or draw their own visual of a
given symmetry.
Describe the For the first section on reflection symmetry, the first task in
cognitive which students see a line of symmetry is not until the last
demands of the page of problem activities. There was a little diagram that
tasks in the showed students where the line of symmetry on a heart
lessons. Do would be and how to identify it using a mirror, which left not
high demand room for students to discover the different processes or
tasks come solution paths to identify the line of symmetry, and the
early in the problem even states, “Use a mirror, tracing paper, or other
lesson or late? tools to find all lines of symmetry in each design or figure”
which does not leave much room to stray from the
description to find your own solution path. I like that there is
variety in the different solution paths mentioned, but
because these problems were explicitly stated to provide
students an entry point to the problem, I think the task is a
little bit on the lower-level demands side of the Task
Analysis Guide. I didn’t think these problems were on the
higher-level side because the problems did not “focus
students’ attention on the use of procedures for purpose of
developing deeper levels of understanding and
mathematical ideas” but I felt as though this problem where
students were just asked to identify the line(s) of symmetry
did not really develop understanding, besides maybe the
very first couple of problem, and then the problem became
redundant. Unfortunately the pathways that this problem
I think each of the hands on activities at the beginning of
each section are higher-level demands tasks, specifically
procedures with connections tasks, as they provide
students the space to discover the new content, make
conjectures, and make connections to previous knowledge,
evaluating the information they have and what it would
mean in the context of the problem. I think that because it
provides an entry point through the explanation of a
procedure that students could use to find these
relationships, without giving them the relationships or
telling them explicitly any of the definitions through these
activities. Just in the symmetry section, the hands-on
activity has students discover a way to calculate the
different angles of rotation for a given figure/image by only
explaining to students how to rotate a piece of tracing
paper on top, and explaining what the angle of rotation is
after they finish that problem. I think this book also does a
great job of increasing the cognitive demands of the
problems as students get further into the lesson, starting
with identification problems which are lower-level
memorization (and committing definitions to memory)
activities, but then grows to teach students processes to
find different symmetries, then has students identify more
complicated problems. I liked the Practice and Applications
suggested students to follow were “algorithmic” and that
the ”use of the procedure is either specifically called for or
its use id evident based on prior instruction, experience, or
placement of the task” because this problem explicitly told
students the way to find the line of symmetry and explained
the different pathways in the lesson prior to the activity. I
think the main reason I want to label this first page of
problems as procedures without connections to tasks was
that identifying the line of symmetry (especially when
students use a mirror to do so) requires “limited cognitive
demand for successful completion” and that there is “little
ambiguity about what needs to be done and how to do it.”
The next activity is also lower-level thinking as it just asks
students to identify rotation symmetries which is just having
the students “produce previously learned facts, rules,
formulae, or definitions OR committing facts, rules,
formulae, or definitions to memory” and just because it is a
lower level task in which students memorize the definition
of symmetries, they are useful for the introduction of these
new terms. I think the activities for the rotational
symmetries and how to calculate the angle of rotation were
more on the higher-level side of the task demands chart
because, there was no procedure explicitly stated for
students to follow, they have to work with “some degree of
cognitive effort,” “there was not a predictable, well-
rehearsed approach or pathway explicitly suggested by the
task, task instructions, or a worked out example,” the
students must “understand the nature of mathematical
concepts,” access prior knowledge to make appropriate use
of this knowledge, and these problems “requires students to
analyze the task and actively examine the task constraints
that may limit possible solution strategies and solutions.” I
think that by not explaining the process of finding the angle
of rotation and other angles that the image can be rotated
problems for each of the units as they grew in cognitive
demand as students solved the problems. I really liked how
the triangles and alphabet problems in the symmetry
section both asked students to use their prior knowledge
(on different types of triangles and the alphabet) to
determine a solution that did not have an explicit path for
students to take to get there. I think both of these
problems required complex thinking, connecting and
evaluating prior knowledge, “explore and understand the
nature of mathematical concepts, processes, or
relationships” (in this case the understanding of the lines of
symmetry and how they may relate), and analyze and
evaluate their solutions and paths by
self-monitoring/regulating their thought process. I thought
the research application was also a really nifty idea to
include in a textbook problem as there is no evident
solution path, students can extend their thinking to find
their own connections to the concept of symmetry and
evaluate the different information they encounter in their
research to determine if their potential solutions work for
the given context and constraints of the problem. The
critical thinking questions were also great applications of
connecting prior knowledge and expanding one’s
understanding of the new concepts by applying the
relationships and concepts to more abstract problems,
which students could represent in multiple ways, may have
some increased level of anxiety as they have to apply and
extend their knowledge through evaluating their solutions,
knowledge, and employ metacognitive skills to do so.
Unlike the other textbook, this one incorporated short
response descriptions in which students would have to
apply their knowledge using a different representation than
they most likely were using for the last problems as they
would have to use the written representation of the new
to still be symmetric, students are more anxious about their
solution pathways, have to think harder about the
problems, and access their prior knowledge to apply oneself
to the task at hand. I also like that the rotations were set up
so that the angle needed to be less than 360 degrees
because at that point, any other rotation will put the image
in the exact same location as a previous rotation (or the
given orientation). I also think that problem C on 1.2
required students to think critically to examine the
mathematical connections between the previous problem
without explicitly stating any of the connections, furthering
the higher level thinking of the last task and furthering their
understanding of the “nature of mathematical concepts,
processes, or relationships.” I think problems E and F on the
same page bring in some doing mathematics tasks as they
require the students to design their own hubcaps so that
they fit the constraints of the problem, does not suggest a
specific solution pathway, requires students to apply their
relevant knowledge, and “demands self-monitoring or self-
regulation of one’s own cognitive process” in order to justify
their solution and apply relevant knowledge. Then the
problems drop back down to lower-level tasks, asking the
student to identify portions of a pattern to determine what
is being repeated and moving on to the next set of questions
in the entire translations section. The Applications
Connections Extensions problems also start with the
identification of lines of symmetry, finding angles of
roatation and the multiples (this time it felt like a lower-level
task than doing mathematics because they would have
discovered the relationship and a pathway they can use to
find the rotation angle), creating symmetric designs (which
would still be higher-level as the visualizations require
complex thinking, critical evaluation skills, and may create
some anxiety for students). I think problems 20-23, 26, 27,
information to further their understanding of the new
concepts. This textbook also provided the space for
students to design their own understanding of what a
reflection is, leaving students the opportunity to do
mathematics as they have to use complex thinking,
metacognition, evaluate task constraints and demands, and
use their prior knowledge and current understanding to
apply the mathematical relationship and further their
understanding without following a given process or
procedure. I also really like that this text connected
symmetry to parallelograms and the measures of angles,
without explicitly telling students the connection to
symmetry but provides students with enough space and
guidance to discover it on their own. The following two
sections follow the same layout of starting with discovery
activities, introducing simple procedure and identification
problems, then moving on to problems that require more
critical thinking. I did notice that a lot of the problems in
the other two sections rely a little more heavily on the
procedures without connections tasks and the procedures
with connections tasks at first to establish the relationship
(plotting points of geometric figures on graphs and then
transforming them), but then expand student
understanding by providing some doing mathematics tasks
in which students design, answer short response questions,
and connect their mathematical concepts and thinking
process back to the real-world and examine task restraints
in a given context.
 31, and 32 could also be doing mathematics tasks because
they are creating their own connections and examples to fit
the task constraints of the problem while doing the other
activities mentioned for similar tasks.
To what extent For the most part, the problem-solving process for this text
is problem was to identify lines, points, or patterns on a figure to show
solving a focus the different types of symmetries, which does not call on a
on each of the lot of critical thinking or problem-solving skills. The way that
curriculum the lesson was introduced to students did not provide them
materials? the chance to think of what the line of symmetry was or
how one could find it before the text explained it all to
them. Once they had the chance to practice some problems,
students were only asked to identify lines of symmetry, with
the only problem-solving in the first problem being drawing
lines through the middles of the different visuals and
determining if the halves were identical in relation to the
lone. The next section was set up the same, giving students
definitions and asking them to identify if symmetry is
present in a given image, but this section does take things a
step further in the problems on rotation symmetry. I do
think that problems B, C, E, F, and G have more of a focus on
problem solving as they ask students to identify the angle of
rotation and the others angles that one can rotate the
original image so that it is symmetric to the original, design
their own image that has one symmetry but not the other,
to have both symmetries, and make connections to other
geometric figures to determine if the relationships hold too.
Unfortunately, I think that students lose some of the
problem-solving focus when they are introduced to the
translation symmetry as the text explains that these
problems are denoted with arrows to show a shift of the
original image but doesn’t require other connections to
math content. I felt as though the applications problems
On the other hand, this text opens each lesson with a
hands-on activity in which teachers can give students some
of the problems (not the questions that give the
mathematical formulas and relationships) to have them
discover through problem-solving strategies, how they can
find a line (or multiple lines) of symmetry, the point of
rotation, how many times one can rotate the image in less
than 360 degrees, how do the distances of reflections and
the order of points change or stay the same, and comparing
the size, shape, and orientation of an image with the pre-
image after a set of rigid transformations. I think the
problems that were introduction level to the new terms
were great to enhance understanding of the content, but
the practice and applications problems from each section
required a higher level of cognitive demand and the use of
employing more problem-solving skills. In the alphabet
problems in each section, students had to employ different
problem-solving techniques, like guess and check,
elimination, use of prior knowledge, etc. to come up with
potential solutions that fit the task constraints and
demands of the problem. I also thought the critical thinking
problems and the real-world application problems (like the
art of name reflections) had students think more about
their problem-solving process and the justification behind
their solution. Overall, I thought that this text had more of a
focus on the problem solving for students to discover (if the
teachers do not share every question with their students
from the discovery activities) as these tasks ask students to
actively analyze task constraint, what the problem is asking,
 were beneficial for students, but some of the tasks just
required that students identified a line of symmetry which
wouldn’t require an intense problem-solving process, but as
the activities progress, so does the level of difficulty. I
thought problems 12, 13, and 14 were great examples of
similar processes for students to apply which still providing
some space for students to think critically about their
thought process, attempting to rotate the image in
whatever means necessary so that there would be
symmetry. I really liked problem 14 because students could
have stopped drawing flags once they have 6 flags total, but
some might have 8 flags total, and then the class can have a
discussion on how the angle of rotation changes and if both
of the drawings are valid solutions. I think my favorite
problems from this text included problems 20-23 in which
students can think through their problem-solving process,
determining if they need trace paper, a ruler, a mirror,
another tangible tool, or visualizing the process of using one
of these tangibles to determine the shape. I really liked
problems 26, 27, 31, and 32 because they really focus on the
problem solving process that students may employ, either
guess and checking if their words/letters were symmetric,
potentially writing words and using the tangibles to apply
rotations/reflections, writing down all of the letters that
have each type of symmetry and making a word from only
these letter, or solving a different way, but justifying their
processes as they go about solving problems.
What kinds of This text does a good job of connecting the processes to
connections concrete examples in real life that many students may have
are made to participated in or know of (like folding a paper in half to
previously make a symmetric heart, and bringing in as many real-world
learned examples as possible to help connect the new information
material? to students’ prior information. I felt as though this book was
the mathematical concepts needed to solve the problem,
evaluate the prior knowledge one has on the topic that
could be useful for solving the given problem, etc. The
other textbook did not given students nearly as much time
to problem-solve throughout the section, but instead made
problems solving an end of section and sometimes just an
end of unit goal in the applications portion. I also think that
by incorporating graphs of the different geometric figures
or images made the material a little more complex in this
text than it did in the previous one, which made more room
for students to problem solve, like how to tell the
difference between a rotation and a reflection if you are
given two images on a graph (problems 13-16 on page 293)
or having to apply distances from different lines to reflect
over and how it changes the x and y coordinates (if the line
is the x axis, y axis, or a different line) (problems 7-12 on
page 293), or even how transformations in multiple
directions can change the given image and how (problems
1-20 on pages 298-299).
I found that this text made the connections to previously
learned materials much more explicit than the other text
did. For example, problem 15 on page 288 made the
connection between the different types of symmetries and
the prevalence one sees them in the different types of
triangles that students should have learned about (at least
missing a lot of connections that students should have
already, like connecting the activities back to plotting points
and seeing direct rigid transformations, or reminding
students that the measure of a circle in degrees is 360,
which would be one full rotation and implies that your
figure/image is in the same exact spot as where it starts (as
long as other transformations have not been applied to it). I
think these types of connections would have been beneficial
for students to use and recall in the rotation symmetry
section and all of the practice problems that call on previous
knowledge but do not help students make explicit
connections with their work, especially if they are
completing the problem on their own (how problem G on
page 9 connects the different shapes students have seen to
the symmetries but does not show an explicit connection for
students who are just starting to learn these new terms. I
liked the idea of connecting the translation symmetry to
wallpaper patterns, but I think this text missed out because
it didn’t connect these patterns to sequences or other
patterns that students have already some in contact with. I
could not find any other connections to previously learned
materials, but I do think that this book was much more
subtle about the connections it made than the other book
was.
the basics all the way back in elementary school: scalene,
isosceles, and equilateral triangles). There were also nifty
little prerequisite skill checks for students to review
previously learned materials (like plotting points/ordered
pairs on the coordinate plane) that would be necessary for
the following lesson, which meant students could review
prior to the activity, if need be, or teachers could host a
little skills check to see where the prior knowledge of their
class is currently at. I also think that this text brought in the
idea of the distance formula at times in the reflections and
translations sections when they compared the pre-image
and the image to the line of symmetry/reflection if the line
wasn’t a horizontal or vertical line. This also brought in the
prior knowledge of ordered pairs and which quadrant a pair
would be located dependent on their signs, and the text
made the connection about how only the sign of the x axis
would change if the reflection line was the y axis and only
the sign of the y value would change if there was a
reflection over the x axis, due to the location of where the
new point should be given the reflection. This text also
made connections back to other symmetries so in the
reflections section, they would compound this new
knowledge with the knowledge gained from the line of
symmetry section, similarly the translations sections
referred back to the rotations and line of symmetry
sections. This text also made the connection for students
that different polygons, when transformed rigidly, would
also be congruent to their pre-image just like we explained
how triangles that are rigidly transformed were congruent.
There was also the description of how to transform
polygons, which just connected back to moving one point at
a time, just like students first learned how to translate a
coordinate point.
If you are asked to select a textbook for adoption, which of these textbooks would you select and why? - Glencoe

Because I would prefer to be teaching a high school level course, in which students should have some foundation in algebra and the
different transformations done to linear equations and quadratics, I think I would prefer to use the second textbook because it makes more
connections back to previously learned material, has a focus on discovery (more so than the other text did), overall has higher-level task
demands (tend to be doing mathematics tasks), which require students to think critically, evaluate the relevant information, and employ
problem-solving skills to solve these tasks. I liked the variety of the types of problems with a good chunk of each section being dedicated to
practicing new concepts, but then growing to higher level cognitive demands in which students had to consider task constraints, think about and
evaluate their solution path/thought process, use metacognitive strategies to self-regulate their own work and understanding, and also tended
to have more real-world practice problems and examples. I liked how concrete the visual examples were, but that this text connected all of the
new information back to graphs and geometric figures, which would make units addressed later down the road (like potentially transformations
of quadratics, and even the transformation of a dilation of a geometric figure) easier to conceptually visualize and will give students a better
understanding of the different between similarity and congruence. I also think that if I were to introduce the problems from the second text
(Glencoe) I would be able to incorporate them in discovery activities or propose them as thought provoking/challenge questions in a group
discussion, that student would be able to get a lot more out of these problems and their connections to the real-world and other mathematical
topics than if I were try to do this with the other text’s questions (especially the questions on translations). I am also a little biased because I
really did not like the way that the first textbook (Connecting Mathematics) presented translations in the slightest bit. I did not appreciate that
students were just asked to draw little arrows to represent the translation without connecting it back to other math properties like how to
measure the distance, or even how one can formally express a translation using coordinate shift notation.
I also think that I would be able to better relate the mathematical context to my students better through the examples from the second
text because not only were they worded better, but they also provided more connections and background information in the problems than the
first text did. I also think that if I were to make activities centered around some of the materials, examples, and problems from the second text, I
would be better able to make my lesson student-centered and incorporate the 5 practices into my classroom due to my knowledge on the topic
and how it is presented, the inclusion of the discovery-based hands-on activities at the beginning of each section, and the different types of
problems (the investigation/research activities and the real-world art, science, etc. examples) would make my classroom more accessible for all
students with different backgrounds and levels of prior knowledge while still covering the content and standards that I need my students to
learn. I thought too many of the lessons, examples, and problems from the first text didn’t leave enough room for student exploration of the
concepts, nor did they provide a variety of possible pathways for students to take in many of their problems. I also like that the second text
brings in prior standards connections that the first text did not, and that the second text can make further connections to other standards, like
using graphs to describe rigid transformations, and that the three symmetries we learned about in these three sections create congruent figures
between the image and the pre-image as the shape and size of the figure do not change, but the orientation or location of the figure may
change.