Geometry and Technology

For my 3^rd grade Math/Geometry lesson I would like to use Google Sketchup as a technological aspect of the lesson. Sketchup is a free 2D and 3D modeling software package developed by Google. It allows users to do things as easy as drawing 2D shapes (circles, triangles, squares) to as complicated as 3D architectural designs (skyscrapers, houses, bridges). At the beginning of the lesson I would like to start off using the interactive white board to draw 2D shapes such as triangles, circles and squares. Then I would use the “push up” tool in the program to transform each shape into a 3D one. There is also a tool that allows the shapes to be rotated so that every face of the object can be seen. The interactive white board will not only be used as a teacher demonstration tool, it will also be used by the students so that they can assist in making the 2D and 3D objects.

There is a geometric shape manipulation tool available online that is even easier than Sketchup. The tool shows several 3D images that can be rotated and resized. The number of faces of each image can be counted by clicking on them. Once a face has been clicked on it changes to a different color. The “counter” in the corner shows the number of faces that have been selected. The same can be done for the edges and vertices.

I have also found a number of Geometry WebQuests that could be used for my lesson. One WebQuest has students design a quilt that was described in Betsy Ross’s diary using geometric shapes. Another WebQuest is about triangles that include multiple tasks for the students to choose from. A variety of interactive math lessons can be found online as well as interactive games and flashcards.

One of the challenges I may face in using technology for this lesson might be that the district I am teaching at does not have the technology available. It would be difficult to implement the use of the WebQuests and interactive math lessons without a properly maintained computer lab. A reservation may be that the students might have a tendency to get off task and do other things especially if the internet is being used. Lab management software would be ideal so that this would not occur.