E1.2 Construct three-dimensional objects, and identify two-dimensional shapes contained within structures and objects.
Activity 1: Do You Have the Same Shapes?
Have students work in groups to construct different three-dimensional objects from recycled cardboard boxes or straws and connectors. Have them think about the two-dimensional shapes that will make up the three-dimensional object and draw them on a sheet of paper. After the activity, have the groups look at the two-dimensional shapes drawn at the beginning of the activity so that students can determine if all the two-dimensional shapes were used to construct their three-dimensional object.
Then as a group, identify the two-dimensional shapes that make up each of the three-dimensional objects, highlighting similarities and differences.
Activity 2: Play Structures
Invite students to observe play structures in the schoolyard and identify, using drawings on a sheet of paper, the two-dimensional shapes that form them. Upon returning to the classroom, ask students to make a model of the play structure based on their observations. Ask them the following questions:
- What two-dimensional shapes make up your play structure?
- Did you use the same two-dimensional shapes that you observed outside? Why?
- Are the play structures often made up of the same two-dimensional shapes? Why?
Through questioning, make students aware of the usefulness of a variety of shapes for different purposes (for example, the regular use of flat faces in play structures to make them easier to climb).