Isometric Transformation

Isometric transformation is a topic of geometry reasoning at level 8 in Victoria

Curriculum. It is closely related to congruence and tessellation which is its
application. This PCK will discuss several issues with regards to isometric
transformation.
Isometric transformation includes three transformation which are translation,
rotation and reflection. Enlargement is not isometric.

Figure 1: Rotation practice exercise in the textbook (Greenwood et al. 2011)

For rotation, students would find it familiar if the rotational centre is at a vertex
or on one edge of the shape. It can be slightly harder but still easily doable if the
centre lies outside near the shape. What about other positions such as a point
inside and not the centre of a shape (Goos et al. 2007) ? In the textbook, the
exercise, in figure 1, does not have any situation that the rotational centre is
inside the box. The case is confuse due to the transformed shape is overlapped
with the original one and therefore it is challenging to differentiate two shapes
while constructing. Thus teachers can highlight that students should use two
colours during the exercise to not confuse the overlapping.
For translation, a student would struggle to realise that the translating with a
reference point on the edge of the shape is the same as with a point elsewhere
inside or outside (Goos et al. 2007). The issue can be caused that students are
not familiar with vector which they have not learnt about yet since if we have
translation of a shape at two separate reference points with equal vectors, the

results are completely identical at exactly same position. Therefore, teachers

can emphasize by exploring the issue with exercise where students need to do
translation with al least two reference points with same direction and
displacement (same vectors). Afterwards, students can be able to elaborate
recognition that translating a shape with different reference points might obtain
the same result in certain conditions.
The theory the above issue can relate to vector algebra, motion and mirror
system in physics at higher levels. Therefore in my opinion, it is good for students
to learn about features of combination of transformation as enriched exercises,
particularly that double transformation can become single transformation.
A glide is combination of reflection and translation. Combination of two
reflections over two intersected lines can be seen as a rotation but over two
parallel lines is on the other hand equivalent to a translation. Composition of
two rotations at the same centre is another rotation at the same centre (Roberts
2016).
The proof on paper seems to be not exciting to students because they tend to
use imagination when doing the transformation. To be more exciting and visual,
digital technology is a great tool for this topic. A 2D drawing software can be
good. However I suggest two games which can engage with students effectively
and they can be used to consolidate above features of double transformation.
Shape modes at mathplaygound.com
http://www.mathplayground.com/ShapeMods/ShapeMods.html
Transformation workshop at mathplayground.com
http://www.mathplayground.com/TransformationWorkshop/Workshop.
html
Formative assessment online
https://au.ixl.com/math/year-8/identify-reflections-rotations-andtranslations
Summative assessment online
http://www.regentsprep.org/regents/math/geometry/multiplechoicere
viewg/transformations.htm

Figure 2: Tessellation (Discovering Geometry: A Guide for Parents, 2008)

Tessellation is a great example of application of isometric transformation in
everyday life such as architecture and tile. It would be a suitable topic for rich
learning activities. For example, picture puzzles are tessellation. Teacher can
have questions related to the topic during the activities such as:
In figure 2, what isometric transformations can you see from the
tessellation?
How can you match 1 and 2 by using isometric transformations?
In figure 2, it can be seen that two adjacent figure can be matched with a
rotation with the centre at the mid-point of adjacent border. To transform 1
2, a solution can be is translating 1 3 and rotating 3 1.
To conclude, isometric transformation can be very interesting topic to engage
students with geometry and to improve imaginative thinking ability. The
exercises should be more diverse so students will be familiar and confident with
all situations rather than common ones. Digital technology is also great way to
deliver the content of this topic such as drawing software or games. Finally,
tessellation should be included to connect to real world applications.

References
2008. Chapter 7: Transformations and Tessellations. In Discovering Geometry:
A Guide for Parents. Kendall Hunt, pp. 2932.
Goos, M., Stillman, G. & Vale, C., 2007. Teaching secondary school
mathematics. research and practice for the 21st century., Crows Nest,
NSW: Allen & Unwin. Available at: http://0search.ebscohost.com.library.vu.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat02
404a&AN=vic.b1807895&site=eds-live.
Greenwood, D.M. et al., 2011. Essential Mathematics for the Australian
Curriculum Year 8, Cambridge University Press.
Roberts, D., 2016. Composition ( Sequences ) of Transformations.
MathBitsNotebook, pp.47. Available at:
http://mathbitsnotebook.com/Geometry/Transformations/TRCompositeTr
ansformations.html.