Mirror Lines at the Science Museum

Test, count, and draw lines of symmetry.

Part 1: The mirror test

At the museum's mirror table, you stand a mirror on a line. If the half you see and its reflection make the whole shape again, the line is a line of symmetry. Folding on that line makes the two halves match exactly.

Each puzzle on the mirror table is made of two pieces. Is the line where the two pieces meet a line of symmetry of the whole puzzle? Sort the puzzles.

Jamal stood a mirror on the dashed line of each shape. Only one dashed line is a line of symmetry. Which shape has it?

A. B. C. D.

Four students made claims at the mirror table. Use these shapes and the puzzles above to help you.Which claim is true?

A. Every shape with 4 sides has at least 1 line of symmetry.B. A triangle can never have a line of symmetry.C. If a line cuts a shape into two pieces of the same size, it is always a line of symmetry.D. A shape can have a line of symmetry even when its sides are not all the same length.

Part 2: Count the lines

Check every way a shape could fold so that the two halves match. Count every line of symmetry, not just the first one you find.

Lucy found one line of symmetry on each window. Now she wants to find all of them. The hexagon window has 6 sides that are all the same length. The square window has 4 sides that are all the same length.

How many more lines of symmetry can Lucy draw on the hexagon?
How many more lines of symmetry can Lucy draw on the square?

Each tile on the museum's shape wall has sides that are all the same length and angles that are all the same size.

How many lines of symmetry does Tile A have?
How many lines of symmetry does Tile B have?
How many lines of symmetry does Tile C have?
A new tile will have 10 sides that are all the same length and 10 angles that are all the same size. Use the pattern. How many lines of symmetry will it have?

The gift shop sells these museum badges.The octagon badge has 8 sides that are all the same length.

Which badge has the most lines of symmetry? Badge
Which badge has no line of symmetry? Badge
How many badges have exactly 1 line of symmetry?

The kaleidoscope room has 2 star windows and 1 rectangle window. Each star has 5 points that are all the same. The rectangle has 2 long sides and 2 short sides.How many lines of symmetry do the 3 windows have in all?

A. 14B. 12C. 7D. 10

Part 3: Draw and explain

Use a ruler. Draw each line of symmetry as a dashed line.

The museum's welcome sign is a triangle with 3 sides that are all the same length. Draw all of its lines of symmetry.

Design a new museum badge. Draw a shape that has exactly 2 lines of symmetry but is not a rectangle. Then draw both of its lines of symmetry.

10.

Diego says a shape can only have a line of symmetry if all of its sides are the same length. Use this kite to explain whether Diego is right.