Illustrative Mathematics
Grandfather Tang's Story
It's amazing the complex figures that can be made using only a few simple shapes. Following a class reading of the children's book Grandfather Tang's Story by Ann Tompert, young mathematicians use sets of tangrams to create models of the...
Curated OER
Quadrilaterals
Students construct a variety of four-sided figures using a K'NEX Geometry Set. They view and discuss pictures of shapes, then in small groups they construct as many four-sided shapes as possible using the K'NEX Rods and Connectors. As a...
Curated OER
Shapes from Shapes
Geometric shapes are really cool. Examine triangles, quadrilaterals, trapezoids, rhombuses, parallelograms, pentagons, and hexagons with your class. They draw large shapes and small shapes then compare them to understand their shapely...
Curated OER
Geometry Vases: Ceramics Lesson
Geometric shapes are used in math and in art. Learners discuss the various names, dimensions, and attributes of geometric shapes, then apply that knowledge to design a vase. They use 3-D shapes to make a cubist-style vase out of clay.
Curated OER
Shaping Up with Nature at Black Bayou Lake
Students visit a local lake refuge and identify shapes they find in nature. They take pictures of the various shapes and use KidPix to draw shapes around the shapes in the pictures. They watch a slideshow of all the shapes found by their...
Curated OER
Naming Shapes
Young scholars study geometric shapes and practice naming them properly. In this geometry lesson, students work in groups to give definitions of the vocabulary to each other in their own words. Young scholars also visit a lower grade and...
Curated OER
Investigation: Shape Balance
Second graders explore geometry by utilizing pattern blocks. In this shape identification lesson, 2nd graders view the characteristics for several different geometric shapes and create them using building blocks and other classroom...
Curated OER
Islamic Patterns
In this geometry and religion worksheet, students examine a black line picture of an Islamic pattern before identifying the shapes in the pattern. They color the pattern by following the directions given at the bottom of the page.
Exploratorium
Exploring Pattern Blocks
Here's a great lesson that uses one of the best manipulatives there is: pattern blocks. Elementary schoolers must fill in a variety of shapes using specific amounts of pattern blocks. This forces them to do some spatial mathematical...
Curated OER
Identifying Angles
Fourth graders discuss and examine examples of the different types of angles. After learning the names of the geometric shapes students identify the types of angles and then complete the Kidspiration activity, Identifying Angles.
Curated OER
Ovals, Rectangles, Squares, and Triangles
Students identify geometrical shapes displayed in photographs of everyday objects in a metropolitan setting.