It is important to include hands-on activities in the classroom in order to help students construct meaning. The activities allow the students to learn in a variety of ways: visually, auditory, spatially, kinesthetic. This allows students to learn in a way that is best for them. These activities also encourage the development of problem solving skills, a skill set that can be invaluable in their futures. Hands-on learning also promotes some form of educational autonomy for the students since they must actively participate in order to learn rather than passively listening to what they are told.
Möbius Strip Activity
This activity allows students to create new figures, explore their interesting properties, make predictions, and discover relationships. The Möbius Strip activity includes strips of paper, a pencil, and a highlighter/marker. With these limited materials, the students will create a Möbius Strip and determine the number of sides and edges it has. The activity extends beyond the Möbius Strip by having the students create strips with more twists, determine the number of sides and edges, and fill in the data on a chart. From this chart, the students will discover the relationship that exists between the number of twists and the number of sides and edges. The worksheet, data chart, and powerpoint presentation used for this activity are attached below.