E1.1 Sort three-dimensional objects and two-dimensional shapes according to one attribute at a time, and identify the sorting rule being used.
Activity 1: Treasure Hunt (Recognize, Name, Compare and Sort Geometric Shapes)
Instructions
- Provide students with a list of attributes and properties (for example, I am symmetrical. I have more than four sides. I have a curved line. I have more than three sides.).
- Ask them to find three-dimensional objects or two-dimensional shapes that have these attributes or properties.
Intervention
Collect the two-dimensional shapes or three-dimensional objects the students found and ask them to justify their answers.
Source: translated from Guide d’enseignement efficace des mathématiques de la 1re à la 3e année, Géométrie et sens de l'espace, p. 45-46.
Activity 2: Comparison of Geoplans (Recognize, Name, Compare and Sort Geometric Shapes)
Instructions
- Provide each student with a geoboard and rubber bands.
- Have students construct a triangle and then hold it up to the class.
- Ask the following questions:
- What similarities are there between the triangles?
- What differences are there between the triangles?
Repeat the same process for a square and a rectangle.
Intervention
- Pool after each two-dimensional shape is constructed and ensure that similarities and differences between the two-dimensional shapes are related to the number of sides, number of pegs on the outline, etc.
- Point out the properties common to all triangles (three vertices and three sides), all rectangles (four vertices and four sides) and all squares (four vertices and four equal sides).
- Point out that the square is also a rectangle because it has the same properties to rectangles.
Source: translated from Guide d’enseignement efficace des mathématiques de la 1re à la 3e année, Géométrie et sens de l'espace, p. 46.
Activity 3: Common Property
Material
- three-dimensional objects
- hoop
Instructions
- Place a cube, square-based prism, rectangular-based prism, triangular-based pyramid, square-based pyramid, sphere, cone, and cylinder inside a hoop.
- Choose one of the three-dimensional objects, show it, then place it outside the hoop for the students to see.
- Explain that you chose this three-dimensional object because it is special, in other words, it has this or that attribute, for example, "The cylinder is special because it rolls."
- Tell students that they will need to choose a three-dimensional object that has a property in common with this special three-dimensional object, for example, "I picked the sphere because it rolls too."
- Put the sphere and cylinder back in the hoop.
- Repeat with a new three-dimensional object outside the hoop, making sure to take a three-dimensional object that belongs to a different family each time.
- If the special three-dimensional object is a pyramid, the student can say:
- "The two pyramids are special because they have triangular faces."
- "The pyramid and the cube are special because both have edges."
- "The pyramid and the rectangular-based prism are special because both have vertices."
Source: translated from Guide d’enseignement efficace des mathématiques de la 1re à la 3e année, Géométrie et sens de l'espace, p. 77.