ShmoopTube

00:12

Say hello to the Shmoop softball team, they're ready to play their first game on their brand spanking new field. [Girl holding up a softball]

00:19

Except, there’s one little problem… [Girl looks upset]

00:21

… this baseball diamond is seriously lacking in symmetry. [The field is not square]

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What's symmetry you ask? It's when one half of a shape or object is exactly the same as the other

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half.

00:31

Basically when something is symmetrical, it’s like one side is the mirror image of the other.

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Think of butterfly wings they're almost always symmetrical. [Butterfly lands on a plant]

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The imaginary line going through the object separating the two identical halves is called [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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the “Line of Symmetry.”

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As you can see, lines of symmetry can be vertical, horizontal or even diagonal. [An X on a treasure map]

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It’s easy to see the symmetry in shapes, of course.

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And you can see the equivalent of these shapes in the real world, as well, such as in a football [Symmetry lines are drawn on shapes]

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field, a boxing ring, or, of course, a baseball field. [Symmetry lines drawn onto a boxing ring]

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You can see symmetry at work in lots of man-made things like buildings and clothes. [Symmetry lines on the Eiffel tower]

01:01

You can even find symmetry in your favorite foods.

01:04

Hmmm, anyone gonna eat that PB and J?

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But it’s not just athletes, architects, clothing designers and math teachers that

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love symmetry. [Teacher eating a cake]

01:11

Turns out Mother Nature’s quite a fan, too.

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You don’t even have to look that hard to find symmetry in nature – like the butterflies,

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we talked about earlier, oh and leaves, flowers and the inside of a honeycomb, etc, etc, etc... [Pictures of leaves, flowers etc]

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In fact, once you’re aware of it, you’ll begin to see symmetry all around you! [Peacock]

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See? Mind blowing. [Man looks shocked]

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