Shape (3D)

Activities

Drawing 3D Objects
Activity
Draw two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional objects on an isometric dotty grid.

Volume
Activity
Use formulae to solve problems involving the volumes of cuboids, cones, pyramids, prisms and composite solids.

Net or Not
Activity
Drag the nets into the corresponding panels to show whether they would fold to form a cube.

Dice Net Challenge
Activity
Drag the numbers onto the net so that when it is folded to form a cube numbers on opposite faces add up to prime numbers.

Cube Face Meetings
Activity
Visualise the cubes formed by the nets and paint the three faces meeting at a vertex.

Cubical Net Challenge
Activity
Find all the ways of painting the faces of cubes using only two colours.

Coloured Cube 3D
Activity
Colour in the remaining faces of the nets of the cubes to match the rotating three-dimensional picture.

Plans and Elevations
Activity
Interpret plans and elevations of three dimensional shapes.

Volume Equals Surface Area
Activity
Find the cuboids with integer side lengths where the volume is numerically equal to the surface area.

The Great Dodecahedron
Activity
Pupils are not allowed to use their hands to point but must describe fully any shapes they can see in this picture.

Puzzle Cube Net
Activity
A jumbled moving-block puzzle cube is shown as a net. Can you solve it?

Trigonometry in 3D
Activity
Calculate the lengths of sides and the size of angles in three dimensional shapes.

Faces, Edges and Vertices
Activity
Calculate the number of faces, edges and vertices on 3D Shapes.

Platonic Solids
Activity
Identify the names, nets and features of the five regular polyhedra.

Similar Shapes
Activity
Questions about the scale factors of lengths, areas and volumes of similar shapes.

Cylinders
Activity
Apply formulae for the volumes and surface areas of cylinders to answer a wide variety of questions

Surface Area
Activity
Work out the surface areas of common solid shapes in this collection of exercises.

Yes No Questions
Activity
A game to determine the mathematical item by asking questions that can only be answered yes or no.

Investigations

Maxvoltray
Activity
Find the maximum volume of a tray made from an A4 sheet of paper. A practical mathematical investigation.

Videos

This is the main Transum help video on Shape (3D).

Volume Video
Activity
There are simple formulas that can be used to find the volumes of basic three-dimensional shapes.

Platonic Solids Video
Activity
What are platonic solids and why are there only five of them?

Surface Area Video
Activity
Finding the surface are of three dimensional shapes can involve some interesting formulae.

Three Dimensional Trigonometry Video
Activity
When you have mastered trigonometry in two dimensions it is time to practise solving three-dimensional problems.

Tetrahedron and Pyramid
Activity
A tetrahedron and a pyramid have edges of equal length. If they are glued together on a triangular face with the vertices aligned, how many faces will the new shape have?

Visual Aids

Cube Construction
Activity
This is a simple interactive that does nothing more than allow you to create 3D drawings of models made with cubes.

The Great Dodecahedron
Activity
Pupils are not allowed to use their hands to point but must describe fully any shapes they can see in this picture.

3D Trigonometry Presentation
Activity
A slide presentation (a poem) introducing using trigonometry (including Pythagoras' Theorem) to find lengths and angles on three dimensional shapes.

Starters

Starter
Dice Nets
Determine whether the given nets would fold to produce a dice.

Starter
Dice Reflections
A dice is reflected in two mirrors. What numbers can be seen?

Starter
Faces and Edges
Find the number of faces, edges and vertices on some familiar objects.

Starter
Icosahedron
How many triangles are there on the surface of a regular icosahedron.

28 items are currently in this category.

Teachers might find the complete Shape (3D) Topic List useful.

A particular skill is required to be able to excel in this area of Mathematics. Spatial awareness is important for solving multi-step problems that arise in areas such as architecture, engineering, science, art, games, and everyday life. Children have varying abilities visualizing three dimensional relationships but these abilities can be developed through practical activities and working through mathematical problems. Breaking down three dimensional situations into smaller two dimensional parts in an important strategy for problem solving.

See also the "Shape" Starters.


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