This could be used to create as many copies of the original pattern block as you want! The problem at the time of this writing is that the copies do not inherit the properties of the original: the colors, styles, and scripts are lost. The tool duplicates any existing polygon by simply clicking on it, and the copy can be rotated “manually” by dragging one of the vertices around another. The existing GeoGebra Rigid Polygon tool has the potential to solve this problem. However, the limitation of GeoGebra for virtual manipulatives is that it’s inconvenient and complicated to create multiple copies of blocks, which is of course necessary for pattern blocks. (Look at more double-sized pattern block dodecagons on my website.) For example, I used the rotation tool to make this figure:Īnd this one, using reflection across just two mirrors, executed repeatedly: The beauty of virtual manipulatives in GeoGebra is that you have access to the full power of the software. I started with Jen Silverman’s GeoGebra pattern blocks, and added the figures. I was interested in creating more specialized pattern block applets, which would focus on specific activities. My first creation along these lines is to support Lab 5.6 from Geometry Labs. The lab is an exploration of symmetry, in which students cover three figures with pattern blocks. (On the other hand, one good use of this purple block would be to discover the supertangrams, but there’s no reason to include it in the same applet as the pattern blocks.) ![]() This makes no sense to me because its hypotenuse will not match the sides of any of the actual pattern blocks. One inexplicable choice was the inclusion of a purple isosceles right triangle. Among other valuable features, it allows the selection of a group of blocks which you can copy-paste, for example in creating a pattern block tiling. One good implementation is on the Math Learning Center site. Virtual pattern blocks are not hard to find on the Web. In this post, I will explore GeoGebra as a platform for virtual manipulatives. ![]() In the previous post, I discussed virtual manipulatives in general, and a particular implementation for algebra, using a Google Drawings representation of the Lab Gear.
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