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Below you will find several examples of how butterflies and plants are symmetrical in shape. If you're not sure how this can be, take some time to look at the diagrams below for a primer on symmetry in nature.
Below: Line Symmetry | Classroom Ideas | Rotational Symmetry | Take Your Own Photos |
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Line Symmetry The type of symmetry pictured below is known as line symmetry or bilateral symmetry. The beetle and the butterfly look exactly the same on opposite sides of their bodies (notice the line down the middle of the beetle that divides it in half. |
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Butterfly 1
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Butterfly 2
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| Classroom
Idea |
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| Have your students create their own symmetrical butterflies. Click on the link below and print the butterfly templates. Then have students create their own patterns and color them exactly the same on both sides so that they will be symmetrical. Check out the sample below. | |
A Sample from Class
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Display the Butterflies!
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Butterfly Printables |
Original |
Vein Symmetry |
Outside Symmetry |
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Although not perfectly
symmetrical, when divided in half, you should notice that there are
many similarities between each side of the leaf above. Can you name
them? |
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Leaf Printable |
Rotational Symmetry Rotational symmetry is also known as radial symmetry. This type of symmetry occurs when a figure, like the flower below, looks the same after it is rotated around a central point less than one complete turn. Imagine rotating the flower below 90º (sort of like turning a steering wheel a quarter turn). Would it still look the same? |
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More Radial Symmetry |
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This photos on this site are licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
Symmetry
is everywhere you look in nature. If you look at plants and animals, you
will find that they have symmetrical body shapes and patterns. If you
divide a leaf in half, you will often find that the one half has the same
shape as the other half. 
