Math Story : Reflective Symmetry
The Four Locks Mystery
“Oh no! Where are we?” says Cirha as she wakes up from deep pain in her head. Triho, Cirho, Squarho and Uncle Math are still unconscious. But why? Were they attacked by someone? Are they safe?
Uncle Bad attacked Samper town with dangerous sleeping gas, which made people fall asleep for some time.
He then took the kids and Uncle Math and put them in a strong digital jail with four doors. “You will never be able to come out of it. I will rule the Fun Galaxy now! Haha!” says Uncle Bad.
Cirha wakes everyone up and explains the situation. Uncle Math and Triho realize that Uncle Bad is behind all this. “How will we get back home? I want to go home”, says panicked Cirho. Handling stress has been Cirho ’s pain point.
“Cirho, calm down! Take deep breaths and count backward! Come on, start now!” suggests Uncle Math. Cirho does as asked.
Finally, Cirho feels better and is ready to face the situation. “Look there, a door. There must be a way to unlock it”, says Triho. Locked up in a room with a locker and a mirror. So strange! Immediately they start looking for clues that might help them unlock the lock. But nothing seems to work.
Squarho touches the lock panel and a big screen appears in front of them. “Complete the image! Remember you get only three attempts and one minute. If all three attempts fail, your door will get permanently locked forever”, says the unknown voice. Everybody anxiously looks at the image. Will they be able to unlock the first door?
Cirho panics and opts for option A on the screen to complete the image. “2 attempts and 50 seconds remaining”, announces the
voice. Oh no! What will they do now?
Cirha tries her hand on the question and opts for option C. “1 last attempt and 30 seconds remaining”, announces the voice. Everybody is tense now. They look at Triho and Uncle Math with the hopes that they will save all of them today. Will they be saved?
Suddenly, Triho notices something in the mirror that was present in the room. A reflection! He notices the reflection of the incomplete image in the mirror. To understand it better, he looks at the image and its reflection again. This time, he starts smiling profusely. Has he got the answer?
“Look at the image in the mirror. What do you see?” asks Triho. “Its reflection”, says Squarho. “Exactly! The reflection is also completing the image. It’s like somebody divided the image into two identical halves from the centre such that the halves look like each other’s reflections. I saw the reflection and have decided to chose the option D”, explains Triho.
“Brilliant! This is nothing but Reflective Symmetry! It is a type of symmetry where one-half of the object reflects the other half of the object. Here this straight line dividing the objects is their line of symmetry”, explains Uncle Math.
“Option D”, opts Triho. “Correct answer”, announces the voice and the lock opens.
Hurrah! Everybody is delighted yet curious to know how Triho solved this. “Oh, I get it now! All the doors use reflective symmetry. Hurray! We will be able to go home”, celebrates Squarho.
It is time to unlock the second door. This time Cirho touches the lock and the new image appears on the screen. “Option B”, he opts. “2 attempts remaining”, announces the voice. Cirha decides to help him and explains to him how to choose the right answer. Together they choose option C.
Thudd! The second door opens too. It’s time for another celebration.
“Soon the third door arrives. Can you choose the right key to unlock the door?” ask Uncle Math.
“Yes! Option A is right” says Squarho. Thudd! The door opens. But it’s not the time for celebration as everybody notices another danger at the door. But what?
“Haha! So I was right! You all were able to unlock the doors. But won’t go alive from here”, says Uncle Bad and attacks them with his powerful laser gun. Triho asks everybody to run in the opposite direction to open Door 4. Uncle Math decides to fight him until everybody reaches a safe spot.
Triho then asks Cirha to touch the lock to open the screen. Quickly he opts for option D and the door unlocks.
Triho, Cirha, Cirho and Squarho quickly run out of the door, but Uncle Math is still inside. Triho quickly grabs a stone and throws it at Uncle Bad’s gun. Taking advantage of this, Uncle Math rushes to come out of the door before it gets locked. Will they be able to make it?
The door is about to close and Uncle Math is still inside. He rushes even faster to come out. Splash! Finally, he made it!
Uncle Bad is inside and everybody is outside. Before he unlocks the door, they rush to board Uncle Bad’s spacecraft and fly back home.
Voila! Before Uncle Bad could catch them, they flew faster and faster leaving him and his ego behind! 4 digital locks, reflections, stress management, and courage! The day was fun-filled. Did Uncle Bad learn his lesson this time?
We Learnt That…
- Reflective Symmetry is a type of symmetry where one-half of the object reflects the other half of the object.
- Line of symmetry is the straight line dividing the object such that each half of the object appears as/like its reflection.
- Panicking in a stressful situation is normal.
- Whenever stressed, take deep breaths, walk and count backward.
Let’s Discuss!
- Why was everybody unconscious?
- Where did Uncle Bad lock us?
- How did we unlock the doors?
- What is reflective symmetry? Explain.
- Activity : Look around you, can you spot some objects that have reflective symmetry?
Please refer this guide by Fun2Do Labs for teaching symmetry to kids :
