KaleidoMania!: Interactive Symmetry

Use Technology to Explore Symmetry KaleidoMania! lets students dynamically create and analyze symmetric designs and explore the mathematics of symmetry. This CD and book of blackline masters offer a comprehensive unit on transformational geometry and symmetry. Students build important mathematical analysis skills that give them a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, the patterns they see all around them. KaleidoMania! provides the perfect stage on which to explore these highly visual concepts and encourages the abilities of all students with fun-filled activities. KaleidoMania! gives students the tools for mathematical analysis, helping them to understand how many of the shirt patterns, building friezes, plate designs, and other patterns they see every day can be classified according to their symmetries. In addition to its open-ended symmetry design and analysis tools, KaleidoMania! includes seven software "tours" and six software investigations that correlate with the ten printed activities that are basic to any geometry course. The program also includes two additional activities: Box Net and the 3 Mirror Experiment. With Box Net, students create a source image and a box net, print it, and construct a three-dimensional box. Using 3 Mirror Experiment, students mathematically analyze infinite kaleidoscopic patterns. With its very clear objectives, the activity book is both teacher- and student-friendly. Students quickly move beyond the definitions of symmetry, transformations, and isometries into KaleidoManias interesting investigations and motivating games, where they develop stronger visualization skills and build intuition about these important geometry concepts. They also learn to appreciate the use of symmetry in the art and the crafts of many cultures. Note: KaleidoMania! is available for Windows only. System Requirements 120MHz Pentium-based system (200 MHz recommended) Windows 95 or Windows NT 4 16MB RAM CD drive