Week 2 Report & Reflection

Welcome back to Math with Markers, where math is more than pencil and paper!

This week, I read Paying Attention to Spatial Reasoning: A Support Document to Paying Attention toMathematics produced by the Ontario Ministry of Education. When I first looked at the article I asked myself A LOT of questions like: What is spatial reasoning? Do I have it? Can I get it, if I don't have it? Where can I get it? Is it available on Amazon Prime? Okay, maybe that last question didn't really cross my mind, but it is a question that could have guided my search for spatial reasoning, regardless of the answer.

What is spatial reasoning?

I found that spatial reasoning, or thinking, refers to the ability to think, mentally or physically, about the location and movement of objects in three dimensions and to draw conclusions about these objects.

It integrates three components:

1. Concepts of space (understanding relationships within and between spatial structures);

2. Tools of representation (using a wide variety of possible representations, such as drawings or computer models); and

3. Processes of reasoning (means to communicate about these spatial structures).

Still not sure what it is?

Think about geometry in math class determining the volume of a soup can. 

Or being aware of your body's position in phys. ed. class so you don't hit anyone while you're stretching.

Or driving your car on the highway and having to stay in your lane and a safe distance behind the car in front of you.

Ministry of Education (2014). "Spatial reasoning can involve"
[Screenshot]. Retrieved from MOE website

Why do we need it?

Spatial reasoning is used in everyday life, as demonstrated by the examples above. We need good spatial reasoning skills to further the advancements in sciences, technologies, engineering and mathematics (STEM). But we also need it in many of the arts, such as architecture, graphic design and geography. I didn't think I had good spatial reasoning skills until I figured out that essentially, it helps us navigate our way through this 3-D world. So if you don't think you are a "math person" (although we all are - that's a topic for a different post) or an artsy person, you still need strong spatial reasoning skills to be successful in all aspects of life.  

How can we help students develop spatial reasoning skills?

- Give students physical manipulatives to build those spatial reasoning skills.

- Encourage students to draw out the problem at hand or use pictures to explain their thinking.

- Encourage students to represent their thinking with diagrams, maps and graphs.

- Use spatial vocabulary, such as words related to distance, location, rotations, translations, transformation, and direction, such as north, south, east, west, left, right, near, far, close, below, above, middle, over, under, etc.

I have decided to take it upon as a math goal for myself as a math teacher: to explicitly teach spatial reasoning skills so that whatever those students grow up to be, they'll have the skills to be successful!

Pun of the Post:

What do you call a parrot that is dead? A poly-gon!

(Special thanks to one of my students for sharing this joke with me)