Paper Snowflake Symmetry

What you need

Step by step

1) Fold one square piece of white paper in half and cut out different shapes along the folded line.

2) Once done, unfold the paper to reveal one line of design down the middle of the snowflake.

3) Next, take another square piece of white paper and fold it in half, then again in half. 

4) Cut along the 2 folded lines then unfold the paper to reveal the second snowflake.

5) Repeat with the third piece of paper. This time fold the paper in half three times. Adult assistance may be required to cut out the shapes as the folded edges may be too thick.

6) Unfold the paper and place the 3 snowflakes side by side. Now it's time for some investigating!

 Learn

• Look at the number of folded lines and the number of shapes cut out of each snowflake. Did you notice that the snowflake with the most number of shapes cut out has the most number of folded lines?

• Let's take a look at the first snowflake that was only folded once. Fold the paper back into half and hold it against a mirror. Does it look exactly the same as when the paper was open? In this case, the mirror is the line of symmetry for the cut out shapes. One half looked exactly the same as the other.

• Now study the other 2 snowflakes and try to identify the lines of symmetry!

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