Concept 7 of 9
Figure Analogy: Name the Transformation
Today's big idea
Name the movement in words before you pick, because a turn and a mirror look alike.
In a rotation the whole figure spins together, so track where each part lands.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
A figure analogy shows one picture turning into another and asks you to do the very same thing to a third. At Class 4 the change was usually a name, such as a square becoming a cube. At Class 5 it is a movement, and movements are easy to mix up.
💡 Here's the trick
Look at the pair above. The square keeps its shape and only its mark moves, from the top-left corner to the top-right. That is a quarter turn clockwise. Apply the same quarter turn to the third square, whose mark sits at the bottom-left, and the mark lands at the top-left.
🪄 How to do it
- 1.Say out loud what moved and what stayed, as the outline above stays put and only the mark travels.
- 2.Name the movement exactly, as a quarter turn clockwise rather than just it turned.
- 3.Run that same movement on the third figure, moving every part of it, not only the outline.
✍️ Try it
A figure holding 5 dots becomes the same figure holding 3 dots, so what does a figure of 9 dots become? And what single change equals two quarter turns clockwise?
The first change removes 2 dots, so 9 becomes 7. Two quarter turns in the same direction make a half turn, which is why a mark at the top-left ends up at the bottom-right.
⚠️ Watch out
You might be thinking a turn and a mirror image look the same. They do not. Under a turn the parts keep their order as you travel round the figure, and under a mirror that order reverses. Check a second part of the figure whenever both seem to fit.
🌟 Why this matters
Reading a map held the wrong way up is this exact skill. So is working out how a part fits back on after the machine has turned it. Anyone laying a tiled floor or fitting a jigsaw piece is naming a rotation before they commit to it.
Exam tip: Name the change in words before you look at the options, because the options always include a figure that fits a different change.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“A mark moves top-left to bottom-right. Where does a mark at the top-right go?”
- 1
Name the movement
Top-left across to bottom-right is a half turn (180°), not a mirror. 🔄
- 2
A half turn swaps opposite corners
Top-left ↔ bottom-right, and top-right ↔ bottom-left.
- 3
Apply it to the top-right mark
Half a turn from top-right lands on bottom-left.
- 4
Answer ✓
bottom-left
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Say the movement in words first — turns and mirrors look alike.
TRANSFORMATION NAMER · ROUND 1 OF 3
Step 1 · name the change
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
A mark moves from the top-left to the top-right of a square. Under that same change, where does a mark at the bottom-right go?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: Counting Rectangles
Two lines down and two across fix one rectangle. Multiply the pairs.