Mathematics

Beginner

50 mins

Teacher/Student led

Learning Goals

Learning Outcomes

Lesson Files

+80 XP

What you need:
IWB/Projector/Large Screen
Polydron

3D Shapes: Faces, Edges and Vertices

Explore the faces, edges and vertices of solid shapes using everyday objects and 3D models. Count and identify the properties that define each shape, including the special case of a cylinder.

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Build Your Shape Table in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
6 What Did We Notice?
7 What's Next
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Illustration for Getting Started Look at these three everyday things: a cereal box, a tin of beans and a dice. Hands up: how many flat sides can you see on the box? Where do two flat sides meet to make a sharp line?

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

Watch four solids on the board. For each one, count its flat faces, count the straight edges where faces meet, and count the corners (vertices). Watch the last one carefully: the cylinder. Does it have any pointy corners?

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~11 mins

Key point

Today we work through these solids together, tallying each one on the board: first the cube, then the cuboid, then the square-based pyramid, and finally the cylinder. For each shape we rotate it, tap each face to count them, then the edges, then the vertices, and say each total aloud before we check.

Tally the faces, edges and vertices

+15 XP

4 - Build Your Shape Table in Your Copy ~3 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

In your maths copy, rule a small table with four columns: Shape, Faces, Edges, Vertices. Fill in one row for a cube and one row for a square-based pyramid, writing the number you counted in each column.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

First we match a solid to a property description together. Property: exactly six faces. Check our counts for each solid and decide which ones match.

Then we answer property questions about the solids we counted, using the basket at the front and the shapes on screen. For each question, tap the number of chips to answer:

How many faces does a cube have?
How many vertices does a cylinder have?
How many vertices does a square-based pyramid have?
How many edges does a cuboid have?

Property hunt

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 7 · 2D and 3D Shapes and Angles Shape & Space

Lesson 82 · 3D Shapes: Faces, Edges and Vertices

Download Activity Book page (PDF)

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