Organization Project

For this weeks image, I chose to use Microsoft Word to create a table to show the elements of the polygons that will be introduced throughout this unit on geometry.

This image is created for fourth grade students who are in the middle of a unit on geometry.  By this point, the students will have been introduced to the majority of the concepts for the unit: lines of symmetry, angles, and various polygons.

This table will help capture some of the major concepts from this unit in one easy to read table.  The table takes polygons with three sides all the way up to twelve sides and describes how many sides, lines of symmetry, perpendicular lines, parallel lines, right angles, acute angles, and obtuse angles each polygon has.  In this table, I created contrast by making each row an alternating color between light blue and white.  I also used simple numbers to describe each polygon, not including too much detail.  I placed the words of the descriptions to the left, coming before the numbers.  Finally, I placed the polygon with the smallest number of sides to the far left, and as the polygons go across the page to the right, they increase in number of sides.

For my user-test, my husband looked at the image.  I had a bevel effect on the images of the polygons to begin with, but he thought that gave them a more 3-D effect, which was not what I was going for, as we are only focusing on two-dimensional shapes for this unit.  So, I changed it to a simple shadow effect, just to add some dimension.  His last comment had to do with how great it was that kids would be introduced to pulling information from a table at a young age, as many technical careers use tables to organize information.

Color Project

For this week’s image, I used Adobe Photoshop to create an image showing the similarities and differences of the two most common quadrilaterals, a square and a rectangle.  I used this image to show color and depth.

This image is intended for fourth grade students in the midst of a unit on geometry.  The students will have already been exposed to simple geometry concepts in third grade, and will have learned about points, lines, line segments, rays, and angles from this current unit.

I believe this is useful image, as it not only teaches the important concepts that fourth graders need to learn about squares and rectangles, but it also uses some color and depth concepts.  I used the first instructional function of color, labeling to highlight the right angles and the length of the sides.  I used a bright red color, that contrasted the green color of the shapes, to show how all four angles on both the square and the rectangle are right angles.  I then explained this concept in bright red print as well.  I then chose a bold black color to label each of the sides with their length.  I then explained this concept of the different length sides in the same color, black.  This helps to differentiate the information, highlighting the similarities and the differences in different opposing colors.  I also applied the fourth function of color, creating aesthetic appeal.  The bright, bold colors of red and green add appeal to the image.  I then chose to add both dimension and texture to the image.  The shapes have a small shadow to them, and the background itself has a light texture.

For my user-test, my husband looked at the image.  He did not have any suggestions for me.  He felt that I applied as many of the functions of colors as possible with the content I was using.

Selection Graphic

For this week’s image, I used Adobe Photoshop to show the difference between a trapezoid and a parallelogram.  This image is intended for fourth grade students who are in the middle of a geometry unit.  The students will have had some experience with simple geometry from third grade, and they will have just finished learning about parallel and perpendicular lines, as well as two-dimensional shapes.

I believe that this image will be successful in showing the main difference between a trapezoid and a parallelogram: a trapezoid has only one pair of parallel lines and a parallelogram has two pairs of parallel lines.  The trapezoid and parallelogram are in bright yet different colors.  The arrows help to point out and show which sides are the parallel sides.  I chose to make the two shapes bright colors so that they stood out more as the figure, where the learner would be paying attention to (Lohr, 2008 p. 102).  I chose to make the arrows a light grey color so that they became more of the ground, where the learner is not paying as much attention to (Lohr, 2008 p. 102).

Again, my husband completed a user-test for me.  He suggested that I add different colored lines on the parallel lines to show which parallel lines match.  I applied his suggestion, but to be honest, I am not sure if I agree with it or not.  I liked the simplicity of the image before I added the colored lines.  I do like how they show which parallel lines match.  Would any of my peers have a suggestion?