Flower STEM Challenges-Build with Pattern Block Mats

Pattern Blocks are a great to to explore shapes They invite children to reflect, rotate, and translate shapes. (You will learn more about that below. This set of Flower STEM Challenges Build Pattern Block Mats give children the chance to explore shapes and how they move. Children will have fun exploring them in a center setting or with partners in small groups.

Learning About the Shapes

Shape Names

Before starting work on the Flower STEM Challenges, children would benefit from learning about the shapes they will be using on the mats.

The yellow shape is a hexagon. It has six sides or edges. It also has six corners or vertices.
The orange shape is a square. It has four equal sides. A square has four corner or vertices. Each corner is right angle.
There is a red shape. It is a trapezoid. Trapezoids have two parallel sides and two angled sides.
A green shape is in the set. It is a triangle. There are several kinds of triangles. The triangle in the set is an equilateral triangle. That means all of its sides are the same length and all of its angles are the same.
The blue shape is rhombus. A rhombus has four equal sides. It has two small or acute angles. It also has two larger or obtuse angles or corners.
The beige or tan shape is also a rhombus. Some people might call it a diamond.

Moving the Shapes

There are three ways children may move the shapes on the map. They may reflect, rotate or translate a shape. Let’s look at what those words mean.

Reflect- When you reflect a shape, you turn or flip it on its back. It would like it would in a mirror.
Rotate- A shape that is rotated has been turned.
Translate- When a shape is translated, it has been moved. It doesn’t change the way it is oriented like a rotated shape would.

Getting the Flower STEM Challenges Build Pattern Block Mats

The mats are a PDF. Once you have downloaded, the set you will need to open it with a PDF reader like Acrobat Reader.

First, you will need to download the set.

Flower STEM Challenges- Build with Pattern Block Mats Download

Second, if you don’t have Acrobat Reader you will need to download it. The algorithm page is an Acrobat Reader PDF file.

More Shape Activities

Build a Shape Fire Pit Mats

Building Cards with a Magic Theme

Woodland Animal Pattern Block Building Mats

Pattern Block Suggestions

Below you will see a variety of sets of pattern blocks. Some of them are plastic and others are wooden. While you could print out a set of paper pattern blocks, these sets will be easier for your children to use.

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