Intermediate
40 mins
Teacher/Student led
+65 XP
Teacher-led from the board. Pupils do not need a device, but can follow on one.

Cylinder and Sphere, the Rolling Shapes

Pupils explore cylinders and spheres using ramp photos and everyday object cards on the IWB. They say how each shape will roll and learn to spot flat faces on cylinders versus none on spheres.

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    1 - Getting Started ~3 mins

    Illustration for Getting StartedLook at the picture on the board. A tin of beans and a ball sit at the top of a little slope. What do you think each one would do if someone let it go? Think quietly first, then share your idea.

    2 - Watch and Notice ~7 mins

    You will see four everyday objects. For each one, decide: sphere or cylinder? Look for flat circle faces. A sphere has none; a cylinder has two, one at each end.

    Before each card moves, say Sphere or Cylinder, and why.

    3 - Try It Together ~8 mins

    Today we sort: sphere or cylinder. The objects are a football, a tin of beans, an orange, a kitchen-roll tube, a marble and a candle. Before each card lands, say rolls straight or rolls anywhere.

    Then one more object: an egg. It is curved, but not round every way and not a tin shape. It wobbles, so it is neither.

    Sphere, cylinder or neither?

    4 - Write and Draw in Your Copy ~4 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    In your maths copy, write cylinder and sphere, and draw the circle face a cylinder stands on.

    5 - Class Challenge ~6 mins

    Now the class takes turns at the board to sort three trays of objects into Sphere, Cylinder or Neither. As each card goes in, tell everyone how that object rolls: straight, anywhere, or with a wobble.

    Sphere, cylinder or neither?

    Pupil practice
    Module 6 · Shape and Space: 2D, 3D, Position and Turns Shape & Space
    Lesson 66 · Cylinder and Sphere, the Rolling Shapes
    Download Activity Book page (PDF)
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