Do you know that working on your Spatial Reasoning actually helps develop stronger number sense and overall mathematical understanding?
“Research on spatial reasoning substantiates the critical importance of spatial reasoning abilities in geometry, measurement and problem solving both early in students’ mathematics experiences as well as later in high school and beyond, especially in STEM areas” (Shumway, 2013, p. 50).
So, what exactly do we mean by spatial reasoning?
Spatial thinking, or reasoning, involves the location and movement of objects and ourselves, either mentally or physically, in space. It is not a single ability or process but actually refers to a considerable number of concepts, tools and processes (National Research Council, 2006).
Some examples of spatial tasks include:
- Visualizing
- Moving ones body in space
- Scaling up or down (imagining objects or amounts as proportionally larger or smaller)
- Composing and decomposing (physically or mentally combining or taking apart shapes to make different shapes)
- Navigating and wayfinding
- Orienting
- Creating and reading maps, graphs and other visual forms of data
- Locating objects and remembering location of objects
- Imagining objects moving in space
- Creating or designing objects
- Looking at things from different perspectives
Spatial reasoning vitally informs our ability to investigate and solve problems, especially non-routine or novel problems, in mathematics.
“We know that by focusing on spatial thinking, we can tap into a diversity of student strengths. A focus on spatial thinking allows mathematics to become a more visual endeavour and connects with what “real” mathematicians do when they are exploring patterns in the world and making discoveries.” (Paying Attention to Spatial Reasoning, 2014, pg. 3)
Primary Tasks:
Activities you can do at home to support spatial reasoning:
- Use spatial language (e.g., above, below, beside, to the right, on top) when:
- Doing puzzles
- Build with blocks and other materials
- Draw pictures from different perspectives
Junior Tasks:
Activities you can do at home to support spatial reasoning:
- Examining maps (both reading maps and creating their own)
- Rearranging furniture
- Games and Puzzles (e.g., Blokus, Q-bitz, Rush Hour)
- Draw pictures from different perspectives
Intermediate Tasks:
Activities you can do at home to support spatial reasoning:
- Building/putting together furniture
- Geocaching
- Draw pictures from different perspectives
- Games and Puzzles (e.g., Abalone, Blokus, Chess)