Illustrative Mathematics
3-D Shape Sort
From the apple on your desk and the coffee cup in your hand, to the cabinets along the classroom wall, basic three-dimensional shapes are found everywhere in the world around us. Introduce young mathematicians to the these common figures...
Perkins School for the Blind
Creating a 3-D Model of a Plant Life
Instructing blind or visually impaired learners means you need to make symbolic tactile representations of various processes to provide as much input as possible. But wouldn't it be even better to have your learners make the models...
Virginia Department of Education
Exploring 3-D Geometry
Take young mathematicians on an exploration of the world of 3-D geometry with this seven-lesson unit. After first defining the terms perimeter, area, and volume and how they apply to the real world, students continue on to learn the...
Curated OER
3-D Model of Lake Benthos
Students create 3-D models of Lake Benthos. In this scale drawing lesson, students create a 3-D model of Lake Benthos. Students work in groups to create the models. Students use the models to to encourage people to conserve natural...
Curated OER
3-D Figures Part 1
Elementary schoolers explore 3-D shapes. They transition from thinking of shapes as only 2-D. Pupils read Cinderella as a launching activity for their upcoming adventure, and explore a new world of 3-D shapes in this introductory lesson.
Brigham Young University
To-Scale Models
Guided by their analysis of a scene, their initial sketches, and renderings, set designers begin to craft a scaled, 3-D model of the set of the play they have chosen.
Virginia Department of Education
3-D Figures
Scholars construct three-dimensional figures to study dimension and side views. Learners build models using linking cubes to match views of different sides. After practicing with models, they attempt to match three-dimensional drawings...
SEN Teacher
Photo Nets (3D)
The sky is the limit when printing custom 3-D shape templates from this site. Not only can you pick your shape and pattern, there is an option to upload an image for the different sides of the geometric shape. Let your learners have fun...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Virtual Reality and Anaglyph Stereoscopic Technology
Experiment with 3-D glasses to learn about stereo images and virtual reality. Scholars look at various images to determine if green/red or red/cyan glasses are preferable. They determine distances between images using the 3-D glasses and...
EngageNY
Projecting a 3-D Object onto a 2-D Plane
Teach how graphic designers can use mathematics to represent three-dimensional movement on a two-dimensional television surface. Pupils use matrices, vectors, and transformations to model rotational movement. Their exploration involves...
Curated OER
3-D Cubes
Students investigate cubes. In this geometric solids instructional activity, students review geometric concepts previously taught, then logon to a computer game in which they find cube figures and identify the shadow of hidden cubes.
American Museum of Natural History
Thinking in the Three Dimensions
Discover different dimensions with paper folding. Pupils first read about zero, one, two, and three dimensions, and then learn about the fourth dimension, time. They then use origami to create models of shapes in three dimensions and use...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Representing 3-D Objects in 2-D
How does the shape of the surface of water in a container change as water leaks out? After tackling this question, learners take part in a similar activity with more complex figures.
Curated OER
Classifying Three-Dimensional Shapes
Compare geometric solids based on their properties. Your emergent geometers use spaghetti and marshmallows to build models so they can examine the number of faces, edges, and vertices on polyhedra of their own creation. Resource includes...
Curated OER
Sorting 3-Dimensional Shapes
Three-dimensional shapes can be categorized based on their attributes, and scholars learn more about six figures through this sorting activity. They examine six shapes: sphere, cylinder, cone, cube, prism, and pyramid. There is a table...
SEN Teacher
Nets (3D Models)
Let your learners pick and create a fun shape from this custom template. Shapes range from complex geometric figures to the more common cube and prism. Each page can be labeled with your personal directions. Additional printable listed...
Discovery Education
Discovering Math: Exploring Geometry
Apply geometric properties and formulae for surface area and volume by constructing a three-dimensional model of a city. Learners use similar and congruent figures and transformations to create a city of at least 10 buildings. They trade...
Curated OER
Silica Tetrahedron Model
Students build a 3-D tetrahedron model. In this tetrahedron lesson plan, students use materials such as a toothpick, paperclips, paper, raisins and more to build a silica tetrahedron model and discuss its importance in the atom.
Mathematics Vision Project
Module 5: Modeling with Geometry
Solids come in many shapes and sizes. Using geometry, scholars create two-dimensional cross-sections of various three-dimensional objects. They develop the lesson further by finding the volume of solids. The module then shifts to finding...
Curated OER
Silica Tetrahedron Model
Very simply, pairs of learners construct a model of the tetrahedral silica structure using raisins and toothpicks. They dip it into a soapy solution and then blow a bubble "atom" into its center. The lesson plan gives instructions that...
NOAA
Mapping the Ocean Floor: Bathymetry
Bathymetry is not a measure of the depths of bathtubs! Through the three lessons, scholars explore two different types of maps and how they are made. The resource focuses on topographic and bathymetric maps and teaching the techniques...
Curated OER
Analyzing 3-D Shapes and 2-D Representations
Students can analyze 3-D objects better with actual physical models and by also drawing 2-D representations of them.
Bonneville
Design and Engineer Solutions
What's the best way to collect all that trash? A culminating activity has scholars use the knowledge and skills from the unit to design a solution to the plastic trash island problem. They use 3-D pens or a 3-D printer to build models of...
Curated OER
Cylinder: Student Worksheet
Pairs of geometry whizzes work together to determine which of three differently shaped cylinders will have the greatest volume. Pupils cut out the three rectangles embedded in the plan, and tape them together to form a cylinder. From...