About Mirror Mirror Overview and motivation This module teaches about reflections. The left panel is about the relationship between an object and its mirror image. It makes a connection between left and right hands and left and right handed molecules. Activity 1 and Activity 2 go with this information. The middle panel is about objects with reflectional symmetry, i.e., objects for which the left side is a mirror image of the right side. To help students understand this, have them do Activity 3. The right panel is about mirror writing. Have the students experiment with symmetries of letters of the alphabet using a mirror. If you have a tracing mirror, they can do Activity 4. Materials list of activities from Printable Materials alphabet pages from Printable Materials Several small mirrors Pictures from magazines Toothpicks Gumdrops Shapes cut from posterboard with their mirror images Tracing mirror (you can buy this from Edmund's Scientific) Paper and pencils Doing the Activities Activity 1: The gumdrop activity is very popular. You will need to limit the number of gumdrops used. Make sure students are understanding what they're doing. Ask them questions about their construction and how its mirror image will be the same or different. Help them make the connection with molecules. Activity 2: Make about five different posterboard shapes. To make the mirror images, just flip the shapes over and trace around them and then cut them out. It is good to use posterboard which is differently colored on the front and back. Indicate in some way which is the front and which is the back. Use some shapes which are identical to their mirror images (octagon, circle, square), and some which aren't (tracing of a hand, apple with a bite taken out). The idea is to get students to discover that flipping the shape over makes it match its mirror image. Activity 3: Encourage students to have fun with the mirror and magazine pictures. Distorting people's faces is particularly fun. The object is to find the axis of symmetry by placing the mirror on the picture in such a way that the image is unchanged. Activity 4: Encourage students to try to read the mirror writing on the display. Talk about symmetries of different letters of the alphabet. Can they find a word whose mirror image is unchanged? Tracing mirrors make it easy to create mirror writing. Sources and references Written by Wendy Ashlock 5/3/04