Introduction to Assembling Objects
The Assembling Objects lesson will help your understanding of individual spatial awareness. Spatial awareness is essentially how we see the world. Much of this lesson will focus on recognizing and arranging patterns in your mind as well as with your hands, much like taking small blocks and assembling them into larger shapes, such as with LegoÂŽ bricks.
This section will measure your ability to read simple construction diagrams or blueprints. Some of the material covered will involve familiar basic shapes like circles, squares, and triangles. Some of the material will also cover more uncommon shapes such as a trapezoids and octagons, as well as unusual âoddâ shapes: shapes without an identifiable name or number of sides.
Figures and drawings will be illustrated to represent a certain stage of a puzzle. Different stages may consist of individual pieces before they are to be put together, the proper way specific pieces must be put together, or the final product. The figures are meant to be representations of tangible objects a person may have in real life and demonstrate how they are to be arranged or will disarrange. In other words, assembling objects will demonstrate a personâs reasoning capabilities to solve a puzzle given different circumstances.
There are at least two ways to go about assembling objects. There is the âinside the boxâ approach, which is reading a set of instructions and following them carefully. There is also the âoutside the boxâ approach, which involves creativity and imagination. The second method can be great for developing new methods, creating unique shapes or objects, and innovating new techniques and designs. This method is more time consuming and does not appear within this section of the test. Assembling Objects is meant to reiterate spatial awareness and instructional order, rather than creativity and design.
CONNECTIONS
Stores cannot send assembled pieces of furniture for shipping reasons. Instead, most stores will send furniture as disassembled objects that fit conveniently into a box with a set of assembly instructions. Rather than typing out âScrew in the desk leg to the outside platform,â the instructions will have drawings to show where and how specific pieces can be put together in order to avoid customer confusion.
Shapes and Objects
A shape is the external form or appearance of something; the outline of an area or figure; or a geometric figure.
Examples:
Square
Triangle
Circle
An object is a material thing that can be seen, touched, assembled, or disassembled. Many times, an object is represented to show dimensional depth to make it appear as a tangible item.
Examples:
Cube
Pyramid
Cylinder
Puzzle pieces are a set of shapes and objects that will combine together to create a larger shape or object. In the example below, five triangles and a pentagon can be placed together to create a single star.
Alternatively, puzzles may be presented as a final product. Figures and drawings may illustrate how the pieces will disassemble into individual pieces. The example below shows how a trapezoid can be broken up into two smaller triangles and rectangles.
Shapes and objects may not be regular. Puzzles largely consist of unusually shaped items to test the solverâs reasoning to figure out how the shapes and objects fit together. The example below uses wave-like lines to show irregular shapes forming a trapezoid.
Connectors
A connector is defined as a link between two or more shapes or objects. Connectors use lines and markers to connect one shape of an object to another. Often times, connectors use arrows to show direction.
Numerical or alphabetical identification is used to show connections in a certain order. On paper, shapes and objects can be connected without any problems presenting. For example, object A can be connected to object B. Alternatively, object B can be connected to object A and still achieve the same outcome.
However, real-life situations may not be as simple. The pieces being connected may not be identical, or the connector may only fasten pieces together in a specific direction. Using spatial awareness and examining directional instructions, it is important to reason with the shapes or objects to achieve the final product as intended.
A connector puzzle can be thought of as an exaggerated version of connect the dots. Shapes and objects will be identified or labeled to correspond with a set of instructions or implied task to connect them together. For instance, a line connecting point A to point B will imply a task to connect the points together.
The points A and B will correspond to puzzle pieces A and B. The instructions will have additional implied instructions by the way the puzzle pieces are identified.
A puzzle piece may be marked with a dot and its identifiable letter to correspond to the directions. The dot may be placed at the edge of the shape or object, or within the boundaries of its form. When a piece has a dot within the boundaries, an additional line will likely appear to show the angle of connection to the next piece. The example below shows that the next puzzle piece will connect to the center of the cylinder.
Shapes and objects may have a symmetrical form. When solving a puzzle, it is important to identify if a piece has symmetry in order to identify if the orientation of the piece is changeable. For example, a perfect square can be oriented in any direction to achieve the intended outcome. However, the situation may be dependent on the location of the connection. Look at the following example:
The puzzle instructs for pieces A and B to be connected, but A must connect to B at the center. Both pieces are perfect squares, so their orientation will not matter. However, despite the orientation of each piece being identical, the solution must show the two squares being connected with one piece attaching from the edge to the center or the other.
CONNECTIONS
Real-life connectors may include pieces such as screws or nails. A screw must rotate and fasten a certain way. Both screws and nails contain âheadâ ends, as well. This is important to remember when assembling objects because although pieces may seem identical, the way the pieces are designed may reflect how a screw is supposed to fasten the pieces together. Instructions tend to reflect assembly in a specific order to influence which side the screw or nail head will be visibly seen in the final product.
Avoiding Common Mistakes
Completing a puzzle appears to be simple. However, it is important to recognize that if the mind is working quickly under pressure or not in ideal conditions like at the end of a long exam, it is easy for the mind to play tricks with what you are truly seeing. Although you must work quickly, following these simple procedures may prevent falling into common traps and stumbling over a simple question.
Account for all pieces of the puzzle. By identifying the number of pieces the puzzle begins with, it is easy to identify any incorrect solutions that do not contain the entire set of pieces within the solution. Go one step further, and make sure to account for all types of puzzle pieces. For example, if the jigsaw puzzle contains squares and triangles, eliminate any solutions with an additional variety of shapes. Ensure that the solution has the correct number of each puzzle piece.
Identify any symmetrical pieces and determine shape orientation. Symmetry provides the freedom for pieces to attach regardless of orientation. Determine the orientation of any pieces that must stay fixed. Many solutions will contain the proper pieces and connections with the pieces reoriented or displayed as a mirror image.
Use the patterns of straight and curved lines to identify unusual shapes. It is most difficult to quickly assemble pieces that do not conform to normal shape identities. Recognize if the diagram contains any straight lines or specific curved lines to overcome puzzles with multiple odd-shaped pieces.
Ensure connections are in the proper places. In connector puzzles, the answer options will likely use symmetrical pieces to an advantage. The orientation of the pieces will likely be used to try and confuse the solver into selecting an incorrect solution. Making sure that the connections are made at the proper place as identified by the puzzleâs instructions will help overcome solutions that have the proper shapes with incorrect connections.
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