APS MATHS UNIT PLANNER
Dimension:
SPACE
Length of Unit: 6-8 lessons
VELS Learning Focus Statement:
VELS Standard/s (if necessary):
Dimension
Level
Space
1.0 Standard
1.25
VELS Level 3
Focus:
Term: 2
2D and 3D Shapes
Progression Point
… Students identify basic two-dimensional shapes such as triangles, circles and squares and three-dimensional solids
and objects such as boxes and balls.
They sort geometric objects according to simple descriptions.

Recognition of lines, corners and boundaries in two-dimensional shapes

Classification of shapes according to number of sides
1.5

Sorting of objects onto a Venn diagram labelled with shape information
1.75

2.0 Standard
2.5
Year: 2011
Identification of the important features of two-dimensional shapes and use of these distinguishing features
to compare and contrast various shapes
… Students recognise lines, surfaces and planes, corners and boundaries; familiar two-dimensional shapes including
rectangles, rhombuses and hexagons, and three-dimensional shapes and objects including pyramids, cones, and
cylinders.
They arrange a collection of geometric shapes, such as a set of attribute blocks, into subsets according to simple
criteria, and recognise when one set of shapes is a subset of another set of shapes.

Identification of shapes in terms of faces, edges and vertices
3.0 Standard
3.5
… Students identify edges, vertices and faces.

Classification and sorting of two-dimensional shapes using the properties of lines (curvature, orientation and
length) and angles (less than, equal to, or greater than 90°)
4.0 Standard
… Students classify and sort shapes and solids (for example, prisms, pyramids, cylinders and cones) using the properties
of lines (orientation and size), angles (less than, equal to, or greater than 90°), and surfaces.
Vocabulary Development:
All different 2D shapes, All different 3D shapes, perpendicular, straight line, vertical, horizontal, solid, net, face of shape, vertex/vertices, edges, parallelogram
Common Assessment Tasks
Assessment FOR Learning
Assessment OF Learning
Assessment AS Learning
Student Tasks (Teachers to asses students abilities Student Tasks.
during each lessons and work with focus groups Nelson Maths Assessment Task
where necessary)
Other Resources:
Maths of the Go Book 1 and 2 Rob Vingerhoets, Problem Solving in Mathematics Book E, toothpicks, chickpeas, geoshapes, cardboard paper, protractors, 2D flat shapes.
NAPLAN 2010, Nelson Maths 3&4
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APS MATHS UNIT PLANNER
VELS Level 3
Term: 2
Year: 2011
Teaching and Learning Sequence
Seque
nce
Focus
Warm up
Establi
shing
Prior
Knowl
edge
1
Lesson Focus – What is it I
want my students to
know by the end of the
lesson?
To find out what students
already know about 3D
Shapes
To have students identify
features of 2D and 3D
shapes. How are they
characterised? Exploring
the language of the unit.
Student Learning Activity (including introduction)
Students to be posed question – What do you know
about 2D and 3D shapes? Students can use diagrams
and words to show their thinking.
Introduction - What does 2D stand for? What does 3D
stand for? What does the D stand for? What is
dimensional mean?
What are the differences
between and similarities between
2D and 3D shapes?
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_
ftp/ks2/maths/3d/index.htm
http://www.watchknow.org/Vide
o.aspx?VideoID=27366&CategoryI
D=6976
Venn Diagram comparing 3D and 2D shapes. Students
to create on Venn Diagram and add to it from
classroom shapes and then walk around school to
locate 2D and 3D shapes to add to Venn Diagram.
2
To
have
stude
nts
recog
nise
2D
and
3D
shape
s
within
and
What shape am I?
Look at geometric shapes –
what
are their names?
Teacher
to
read
out
statements students have to
guess shape.
Students can:


identify the faces,
edges and corners
on common 3D
objects
identify 3D objects
from different views
Share / Reflection / Assessment
Introduction – Rainforest Maths – 3D Shapes – What is
my view.
1. Provide students with a variety of common 3D
objects, including cones, cubes, cylinders,
spheres and prisms, to observe and
manipulate. Discuss with students the features
of common 3D objects - the shape of the
faces, as well as the number of corners, edges
and faces. These could be recorded in a class
chart.
2. Students select a known 3D object, e.g. cube,
sphere, cone, cylinder, rectangular prism,
Create class diagram-Name,
definition, related words,
example. Students to compare
diagram from first lesson to last
lesson.
See/Saw:
In pairs, one person goes first
(See) to state something that they
learned from today’s lesson. The
other person (Saw) then states
something they gained from the
session. Back to See’s turn. This
continues until either See or Saw is
unable to recall another fact of
the lesson.
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APS MATHS UNIT PLANNER
VELS Level 3
Term: 2
Year: 2011
pyramid, triangular prism.
outsid
e the
enviro
nment
.
3. Students take their object and place it on a
base to establish a chosen orientation.
Question the students regarding the view of their
object and the shape of its faces from the chosen
orientation.


What shape are the faces in this view?
In this view can you see circles? rectangles?
etc.
Students view the same 3D object and change the
orientation then respond to the same questions.

What shape will you see from the top? From
the side? From the front?
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APS MATHS UNIT PLANNER
VELS Level 3
Term: 2
Year: 2011
Extension: use square based pyramid. Turn on side and
do the views again.
3
.
What shape am I?
Look at geometric shapes –
what are their names?
Teacher to read out
statements students have to
guess shape.
Using mathematical
language to describe the
properties of shape.
Share samples of student work.
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/powerpoint
/cm_3dShapes.swf
Students to choose 2 3D shapes and draw onto A3
paper to create a “What shape and I?” Use kinder
squares to cover the shape and write clues on the
front of the kinder square to solve the problem – “What
shape am I?
Either display or create a class book.
For example - I have 5 flat surfaces. My base surface is
square. The other 4 surfaces are triangular, that make
a sharp point.
What am I?
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APS MATHS UNIT PLANNER
4
Understand that 3D
shapes can be made
from different nets



Create, compare
and describe
different twodimensional nets
that can be folded
into a threedimensional cube
Examine the
properties of the
nets and resulting
cubes, including
surface area
Use rotations and
flips to compare
various nets
Questions to ask - What
properties are common
to all nets that will form a
cube?
[All acceptable nets
have six squares and 14
sides.]
What type of nets will not
work? Why not?
[Nets with more or fewer
than six squares will not
work. In addition, many
nets with six squares
cause two squares to
overlap. Obvious cases
of this are when four
squares share a vertex;
when two squares lie on
the same side of a
VELS Level 3
Term: 2
Building A Box
Emma got a new job at the Acme Box Factory. Her job
is to construct cubes that will be used as
jewellery boxes. Her boss, Ron, showed her the
company’s current blueprint for making these boxes
(Figure 1). He explained, “This shape is called a net. A
net is a flat figure that can be cut out and
folded into a box. This net can be folded into a cube
that measures 3 centimetres on each side.”
Emma was then instructed to cut out Figure 1 and fold
it into a cubical box. (You may also want
to do this.)
“Your job,” Ron continued, “is to draw as many of
these nets as you can, cut them out, and fold
them into cubes.”
“Do all my nets have to look like this one?” asked
Emma.
“Well, I guess they don’t have to look like that… but
how else could they look?” inquired Ron.
Emma quickly sketched out another net (Figure 2) and
exclaimed, “Wouldn’t this also work?”
“Yeah, maybe,” said Ron sceptically. “It doesn’t
matter to me how you do it. You can make the
nets anyway you want, as long as you end up with
cubes measuring 3 centimetres on each edge.”
“Great!” replied Emma. “I wonder how many ways
there are to make such a net?”
Your task is to help Emma answer this question:
How many different nets can you draw that can be
folded into a cube?
Use the grid paper to draw and test several net
designs, and then count and label each of the
different figures. Carefully explain how you know that
you have found all possible nets that will
form a cube.
Year: 2011
Rocket Writing:
You have 4
minutes to write about anything
you learnt today. (Students are
not to write a recount of the
activity must be about things they
learnt Tell me everything you
know about angles.).
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APS MATHS UNIT PLANNER
center row of squares;
and when more than
four squares occur in a
row.]
Without folding, is there a
quick way to determine
whether or not a net will
fold into a cube?
[If a net suffers from any
of the problems noted
above, it will not form a
cube, and these
problems can be
determined by visual
inspection.]
How can you determine
if two nets are identical?
[One of the nets will fit
exactly on top of
another net when
flipped or rotated.]
What sort of properties
does your final cube
have? How do these
compare to the
properties of the nets?
[The surface area of the
cube is equal to the area
of the net. The cube has
12 edges, while each net
has 14 sides.]
5
.
To make shapes from
nets and identify the
attributes of the shape.
Figure 1.
VELS Level 3
Term: 2
Year: 2011
Figure 2.
Introduction – Matching nets to shapes. How do you
know what matches? What do you visualise when you
see the net? What are the properties of this shape?
Also work backwards - what would this 3D shape look
Journal Entry.
Why are certain objects in the
environment the shape they are?
Give me three more examples of
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APS MATHS UNIT PLANNER
VELS Level 3
Term: 2
like as a net?
Year: 2011
objects in the environment and
reasons why they are that shape?
Support – Computer Task - http://www.ngflcymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/maths/cynnal/polyhedra/polyh
ydra.html - Complete results activity sheet (support
version)
Consolidate – Making 3D Shapes from Nets and
naming the properties of that shape.
Extend - Give students 3D shapes to complete
problem – What is the same and what is different
about these shapes? (Use Venn diagram to sort)
6
Tell me 10 true things about
this shape.....
7
To
have
students
identifying different views
of cubes. Drawing cubes.
Students practise drawing all shapes in order to be
able to read and understand 3D shapes.
Verbal Sharing.
Ask students how their shape
would change if they swapped
the base to a round shape or
polygon.
To
have
creating 2D
shapes.
Student Task.
3D shapes
Give each child some chickpeas and toothpicks.
Journal Entry
What is an edge?
What is a vertice?
students
and 3D
1. Which 2D shapes can we make? Let the students
work individually. The chickpeas will be used as
"corners" and the toothpicks and the sides.
.
2. When all students seem confident in making 2D
shapes. Let them continue by making different 3D
shapes on their own.
3. Thereafter let the children work in pairs, to create
one 3D shape of their own choice, using as many
tooth picks and chickpeas as they want, as long as
they can keep the 3D shape from falling apart.
When they are done with their shape, let it dry and use
a string to hang it on the classroom ceiling.
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APS MATHS UNIT PLANNER
VELS Level 3
Term: 2
Year: 2011
Underneath each shape they put a note, on which
they have written their names, and also a "name" for
their shape.
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Extension activities:
-Discuss where in real life the students have seen
shapes, like the ones they have created?
-Draw 2D shapes from the 3D shapes. Copy from
different angles, and write the names of the 2D
shapes.
-Measurement activities: Count the number of
toothpicks and chick-peas or calculate the area,
circumference, volume, weight etc.
Assessment Task (you may like to give this task at the
beginning of the unit for baseline data and again at
the end to see progress made from the unit of work)
Nelson Maths Books 3& 4, plus OET. Assessment task to
be found in grade teaching team folder.
Create
class
diagram-Name,
definition,
related
words,
example. Students to compare
question from first lesson to last
lesson.
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