City Skylines: 3rd Grade and Symmetry

I love looking at pictures of city skylines reflecting on water...

...and then one day, I noticed that symmetry was a big unit in the 3rd grade's math curriculum.  Being inspired, I decided to reinforce the "balance" principle of design by creating an art piece demonstrating the use of symmetry.  What better way than to include choice-based ideas and our local city, Chicago!

When creating the Powerpoint of examples, I wanted to encourage students to use their imagination when designing their cities.  Some examples I gave were:

                                                                Buildings in Chicago…

                                                                          Dubai...

Disney World…

Candyland…

Bikini Bottom…

Mario World…

...and the Taj Mahal, one of the most known symmetrical structures in the world.

Materials
-10.5" x 16" blue paper
-5.25" x 16" white paper
-5.25" x 16" black paper
-Pencils
-Black Markers
-Colored pencils, crayons, or markers to color
-Scissors
-Glue
-12" x 18" colored paper for frame

Objectives
The students will demonstrate balance in their artworks by creating a symmetrical city.  The city will show symmetry with a shadow, or reflection made with black paper.  The students will have their choice of what cities they would like to design for their project.

Tips for Demonstration

-When showing the students how to design the city, explain how the paper needs to be horizontal to show the skyline.  You will get the goofy student who wants to try and make the world's tallest building instead.

-Explain to the students that each building must be connected.  Since you're cutting out the sky to show the reflection, you need a line of buildings, not a bunch of puzzle pieces to glue down.

-If students draw their buildings separate, simply connect the buildings with a road they cannot cut past.

-Tape the black piece to the back of the white piece before trimming out the sky.  It will save you a headache.

-When gluing down, explain to the students to make sure the black shadow is symmetrical!  Too often I get students that glue down their reflection the wrong way!

Here are some finished projects that have gone above and beyond what I expected!