LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

What's in a shape?

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?DocID=135

A lesson plan for Grades 3–5 Mathematics

Provider: American Association for the Advancement of Science

About this resource

Appropriate grades
3–5
Subjects
mathematics (general, algebra, geometry)
Provider
American Association for the Advancement of Science

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In this lesson, students explore characteristics of shapes by making and using tangram sets; discover how the tangram pieces are related to one another; and determine how many different combinations of the triangles, squares, and parallelograms in tangram sets can make a given shape. The activities will encourage learners to begin to use all these features in describing and designing items and increase substantially the number of geometric shapes and concepts with which they are familiar. Science NetLinks provides helpful activity sheets that explain how tangrams work, links to a web resource that demonstrates how teachers can create their own tangrams, and three detailed activities necessary for completing the lesson. This plan also offers suggestions for assessment, organization, and enrichment activities along with links to the Enchanted Minds and the Mathematics TEKS Toolkit websites.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 3

  • Goal 3: Geometry - The learner will recognize and use basic geometric properties of two- and three-dimensional figures.
    • Objective 3.01: Use appropriate vocabulary to compare, describe, and classify two- and three-dimensional figures.
  • Goal 5: Algebra - The learner will recognize, determine, and represent patterns and simple mathematical relationships.

Grade 4

  • Goal 3: Geometry - The learner will recognize and use geometric properties and relationships.
    • Objective 3.03: Identify, predict, and describe the results of transformations of plane figures.
      • Reflections.
      • Translations.
      • Rotations.

Grade 5

  • Goal 3: Geometry - The learner will understand and use properties and relationships of plane figures.
    • Objective 3.01: Identify, define, describe, and accurately represent triangles, quadrilaterals, and other polygons.