These words should be imbedded in discussion not only about geometric shapes, but also in everyday language about objects in their lives (my lunch bag is above my cubby). Working with positional language (above, below, beside, etc.) provides students with the words necessary to describe objects in their environment. They should also look for examples in the world around them of both flat and solid figures. Students will also look for similarities between flat and solid shapes, for example noticing some solid figures have circular faces, and some have triangles or squares as faces. For example triangles may be any color.Īnother focus in kindergarten is understanding the differences between flat and solid shapes, not on knowing the words two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D). They should begin to reason that some of these attributes matter, but some do not. They may identify the difference between straight or curved lines/sides, call vertices “corners”, count sides and corners, describe 2D shapes as “flat” or “thin” when compared to 3D figures, etc. For example, the pyramid is made of one square and four equilateral triangles. Geometric 3D shapes often have two-dimensional shapes as their base. 3D shapes have depth, which means they also have volume. Students are not expected to formally describe attributes of shapes in kindergarten, rather they will be expected to use informal language to describe what they notice. As opposed to 2D shapes, which only have length and width, 3D shapes are solids that have length, width, and height. Kindergartners begin to identify shapes based on their attributes, rather than just their appearance.

In this Unit, students should be provided with a variety of representations of shapes, in different sizes and orientations. 3D Shapes 3D shapes are not flat shapes, they. They may call this a triangle but not this or this. Can you see a circle or square What are 2D shapes Explore the properties of 2D shapes from one-sided circles to the eight-sided octagons. Many kindergarten students appear to already know basic shapes, (squares, circles, triangles, rectangles) but with probing they demonstrate their understanding is simply by appearance. number of sides and vertices/”corners”) and other attributes (e.g. MAFS.K.G.2.4 Analyze and compare two- and three- dimensional shapes, in different sizes and orientations, using informal language to describe their similarities, differences, parts (e.g. MAFS.K.G.1.3 Identify shapes as two-dimensional (lying in a plane, “flat”) or three-dimensional (“solid”) MAFS.K.G.1.2 Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size. MAFS.K.G.1.1 Describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind and next to.

Flat and solid shapes