A translation slides a figure the same distance in the same direction, a rotation turns it around a fixed point, and a reflection flips it across a line to form a mirror image. These transformations preserve a figure’s size and shape, although a reflection reverses its orientation; learners identify them in drawings and on grids, including common quarter-turn and half-turn cases, without using coordinate rules or composing multiple transformations.
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Detailed Explanation: Recognize translations, rotations, and reflections
A transformation changes where a figure is, but it does not change its size or shape.
- Translation: The figure slides the same distance in the same direction. It still faces the same way.
- Rotation: The figure turns around a fixed point, like the hands of a clock. It may turn a quarter-turn or half-turn.
- Reflection: The figure flips across a line, making a mirror image. Its size and shape stay the same, but its orientation is reversed.
To recognize a transformation, compare the original figure with the new figure:
- Did it slide without turning or flipping? It is a translation.
- Did it turn around a point? It is a rotation.
- Does it look like a mirror image across a line? It is a reflection.
Worked example
A triangle on a grid is moved 4 squares to the right. The new triangle is the same size and shape, and it still points in the same direction.
- It did not turn, so it is not a rotation.
- It did not flip to make a mirror image, so it is not a reflection.
- Every part of the triangle moved the same distance in the same direction.
Therefore, the transformation is a translation.
Learn by doing: Recognize translations, rotations, and reflections
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Transformations - Identify Translations
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Download/Modify Free Grade 3 'Recognize translations, rotations, and reflections' Worksheet
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This Worksheet Includes:
- Transformations - Identify Translations
- Transformations - Identify Reflections
- Transformations - Identify Rotations
- Transformations - Identify Type
- Cartesian Grid - Rotation of Shape around Point
- Cartesian Grid - Reflection of Shape across Axis
- Transformations - Identify Type - First Time
- Cartesian Grid - Translation of Point (Grid to Grid) in One Dimension (Words)
Units Teaching This Skill
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