Models Made from Squares

This fishy model is easy and good for beginners. Have a whale of a time!

Strand: Geometry • Spatial Sense • Patterns • Connections

Materials: Square, 6-inch or larger, white side up.

Concepts and Vocabulary:

Additional Activities:

1. How many ways can a square be divided into 4 equal parts?

2. Make a whale as a Father's Day card for a "Whale of a Dad." Use as name tags for the first day of school (a school of fish) or "Back to School."

3. Read A Thousand Pails of Water by R. Roy, (K-2) and Humphrey, The Wayward Whale by E. Callenbach, (K-6) and other stories about fish-like mammals (dolphins, porpoises).

4. Did you know whales sing? Nobody knows for sure, but perhaps they are singing the blues. Listen to Paul Winter's, "Lullaby from the Great Mother Whale for the Baby Seal Pups," Concert for the Earth, Live at the United Nations. Younger children will enjoy "Baby Beluga" by Raffi in Concert.

5. Adopt a whale. Write for more information or visit their websites. Greenpeace 1436 U Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 1-800-456-4029 http://www.greenpeaceusa.org Save the Whales P.O. Box 2397 Venice, CA 90294 1-800-942-5365 http://www.savethewhales.org

6. For a FREE copy of "101 Ways to Use Origami in the Classroom," (includes a $5 coupon toward MIM products) please send a SASE (2 stamps) and a #10 regular size envelope to Kurt Reimer, Math in Motion, 668 Stony Hill Road #233, Yardley, PA 19067.