5/6K certainly didn't realise how important maths skills were before they undertook the octi-origami challenge!
Our aim was to construct a pinwheel shaped origami creation, but before we even began, we had to ensure that our understanding of angles and transformations was rock solid! Transformations (when shapes translate, rotate and reflect) were really important in the construction phase as the instructions had to followed very closely to ensure a quality, working end product.
The one aspect that 5/6K identified as challenge was the folding of the paper and having enough patience to persist when things got hard! All students wrote analysis questions before commencing, which helped to guide their mathematical observations. There were many quality questions posed such as;
- 'How many lines of symmetry will the final creation have?'
- 'Will the pinwheel have rotational symmetry?'
- 'What will be the largest angle that we can measure in the pinwheel?'
- 'Why is it called 'octi-origami'?'
- 'Why do we need to know about transformations to be successful?'
- 'Will it fill apart if I don't follow the instructions about folding at certain angles?'
All students in 5/6K persisted until they achieved success, if they found any steps challenging, they did a great job at recognising when to seek help. Some creations did fall apart, so we had great conversations about why and discovered new ways to reconstruct and reinforce the origami.
Liam said:
First I thought I would never do origami right but the we did some easy octi-origami. Well it wasn’t easy for some people like me but the hardest part was when we had to put the eight parallelograms together, then push them into each other. I got it done all by myself but it was hard but it was fun
During my making of the origami I have learnt that there is a lot more planning than what meets the eye, you need patience, sharp edges and a good load of time! First we had to do all that planning, then we made our crisp sharp parallelograms, joined them together using Mrs G's mummy bird baby bird cue for the octagonal shape, then pushed it all together!
The octi-origami experience was captivating,engaging and very interesting. You required persistence,confidence and focus. Octi-origami involved a lot of folding that had to be precise and firm on the folds or creases. It also involved mathematical terms including angles,overlapping shapes and transformations. Transformations are basically how you're moving a shape, for example rotating,reflecting or translating. Overall this was an immensely fun learning experience that I greatly appreciated.
Here's some inspiration for you, showing our creations at different stages of completion.
Are you going to take on the octi-origami challenge?