Iputthepatternblocksouttoseewhatthechildrenwoulddowiththemtodayandwaitedtoseewhatwouldhappen.

Severalchildrencheckedoutthepatternblocksandleft.ThenInoticedSaschastayed.Hekeptmakingdesignslongafterothershadgone.So,Idecidedtogetmycameraandwatchwhathewasdoing.

SaschaandtheMirror

BythetimeIgotmycamera,Saschaalreadyhadnestedtogetheralotofblocksonhisblackfelt.Theyfitsnuglysidebysidewhenheplacedthemcarefully.InthispictureIcancount35oftheminthebigdesigninthemiddleand5greentrianglesinarowinthecorner.Saschaplacedeachonejustso.Iknewsomethinginterestingmustbegoingoninhismind.Saschasaid,“Iammakingitthesameonbothsides.”Ilooked,andindeeditwastrue.Hisdesignwassymmetrical!NowIcouldseewhathehadinmind.

Headdedwhiteparallelogramstotheverytopthatradiatedoutlikeraysfromthesun.

Saschasaid,“ItlookslikeRafikifromtheLionKing.”

Itdoes!Icanseethehairallaroundthefaceofamandrill.

Ifoundapictureofamandrilljusttomakesure.Yes,itistrue.ItisRafikiallright.

IthoughtitwouldbeinterestingforSaschatoseethiscreationinamirror,soIbroughttheroundmirrorover.

Saschabeganrollingthemirroraroundthedesigntoseeitfromdifferentviewpoints.

Thereitwas.Nomatterwhereheputthemirrorhecouldseethedesignwasthesameonthetableandinthereflectioninthemirror.

Saschascrappedhispreviousdesign.Allthoseblockswentbackinthebasket.Ithoughthewasfinishedfortoday,butnoway!

Hebeganworkingonthedesignyouseehere.

Itlookedtomelikethemirrorwasinthecenterofthisdesign,buttherewasnomirror!

Ithoughtthatwasaclevertrick.Nowwhatwouldhedo?

RightbelowthattrickSaschacreatedanewdesignandaddedacopyofthedesignbesideit,likeamirror.

Whatwasamazingwasthatitdidn’tstop!Saschajustkeptongoing.Headdedanotherdesign,justlikethefirst,rightontotheendofit.Thenanother!

Saschainventedapattern!Butthiswasaveryspecialpattern,becauseeachpartofithadamirrorinit,too.Eachsectionwasthesameonbothsides!Anothertrickytrick!

Sascha,itwasamazingtowatchyou!Youcreatedadesignwithsymmetry.Thatisthewordwehaveforbeingthesameonbothsides.Yousawinthemirrorhowthereflectioncreatessymmetry,too.

Whatdoesitmean?

Youthencreatedasymmetricaldesignofbeauty.Notonlyisseconddesignthesameonbothsides,itispleasingtotheeye;itisaworkofart.

Youdidn’tstop!Youbegantocreatemirrorsthatwentonandon.Youcreatedadesignthatcouldberepeated,eachsectionamirrorimageofthelastsection.

Youmadeapatternofsymmetry!

Youcreatedastoryofdesigns,eachoneamirror,goingforwardandgoingback,inapatternthatcouldgoonandonforever.

Butyouwouldneedaverylongtableandmillionsofblocks!

ImaginewhatSaschacandowiththisamazingdiscovery.Hecantakehisinventivemindandbuildamazingcreationsintheblockarea,orindrawing,oreveninclay!Whenapersondiscoverssymmetryheorshecanfinditeverywhere,inourhandsandbodies,inthewayyoubuildacarandaboat,andtheshapeofaleaf.Withaneyeforpatternsonecanfindtheminhownumbers,work,too.Allofarithmeticispatterns.SaschaisMr.Discovery.Iwillhavetokeepaneyeonhimtoseewhatheinventsnext!

Whatopportunitiesandpossibilitiesopen?