Lesson 5 Design Quilt Squares

Instructional Objectives: Students will:

Use geometric shapes to design a quilt pattern on paper.

Describe and compare the attributes of plane and solid geometric figures and use their understanding to show relationships and solve problems.

Time Required: One or two 50 minutes periods

Advanced Preparation: Cut construction paper squares and geometric shapes ahead of time.  Make sure to have plenty of squares, triangles, and rectangles in a variety of different colors and sizes. Print out the homework writing assignment. Print out samples of patchwork quilt patterns.

Materials: construction paper cut into 9 inch squares, construction paper in a variety of colors cut into different sizes of geometric shapes,  or tangrams, glue, computer with Internet connection, tv presenter.

Vocabulary: template, quilt square, triangle, rectangle, square, polygons

Activity 1: Have students examine quilt templates. You might want to show these to the whole group using a presenting device hooked up to your computer.  The following sites have good examples of quilt templates:

Give each student a 9 inch square of construction paper to use as a background for a quilt square. Then have students select a variety of geometric designs that are cut out from construction paper to create a pattern. Have students arrange the shapes until they have created a pattern that they are happy with. Glue down the geometric shapes onto the 9 inch square.

Activity 2: This activity can also be done using tangrams.  Show students samples of tangram quilts. Some interesting designs can be seen at:

http://womensearlyart.net/tangrams/

Students can also practice with tangrams at the following sites:

Construct your own tangram http://mathforum.org/trscavo/tangrams/construct.html

Tangram puzzles http://sci.mus.mn.us/sln/tf/t/tans/tans.html

Challenge Activity 3: Polygon Quilt Game

 In this activity students use a quilt grid game board to create as many different polygons as possible. Students attempt to earn more points than an opponent by coloring in more four-piece polygons on the game board.

http://teams.lacoe.edu/documentation/classrooms/amy/geometry/3-4/activities/quilt.html

Extensions: Students may need to review geometric shapes and concepts. The following sites can help students with review:

Mega Maths has an excellent site for investigating shapes. Students can try several activities at:

http://bbc.co.uk/education/megashapes/invest/text01.shtml

Another quilt project to read about is created by a teacher with The Digital Edge Learning Interchange. This online project is called Quilting and Geometry-Patterns for Living. This site is provided by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/deli/exhibits/1000077/

Evaluation:

A rubric can be used to assess the success of this project. You can use the one found at:

or create your own rubric at:

Homework:

Have students write a paragraph using geometric words to describe the quilt design which can be found at: