Students need spatial sense and understanding when using two-dimentional shapes and three-dimentional diagrams. Sometimes, students experience difficulties with spatial understanding becaues it is not intuitive. Students need practice visualizing two-dimentional nets and their transformations to three-dimentional figures. In order to help students understand how shapes are creating through folding, curling, etc. to a net, teachers often use geometry technology software. One teacher used a triangular pyramid and a cube and asked the students to create the nets to these figures. Using Geometer's Sketchpad, the teacher showed the students how to construct a net and modeled construction as well as use of the Sketchpad. Students were then able to explore and create their own net to try to figure out the net for the solids she presented earlier. Another approach the teacher took to developing spatial understanding was to pass out congruent three-dimentional pieces of a shape and had her students try to develop the net for a specific figure. Students often started solving this problem by using a square out of the pieces given to them in order to start building their net. Students were able to see that by creating two identical pieces from equilateral triangles into the form of a trapezoid, that they could construct a tetrahedron from these two 3-D figures.
Working with students to help them develop spatial understanding between 2-D and 3-D shapes will benefit them in their understanding of geometry. By having this type of understanding as teachers, we will better be able to use hands-on activities to teach our own students how to better comprehend spatial sense and how it applies to different forms of geometry. When students use inquiry based learning such as the type given in this lesson, students get to explore different nets and models as well as incorporate technology into the curriculum. This overall will help students to develop spatial sense.
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