Shapes, Flips and Turns, and Finding Your Way

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What this lesson covers

  • Shapes can be sorted by sides, corners, faces and curves.
  • Te reo Māori has words for shapes, like tapatoru for triangle.
  • Shapes can flip, slide and turn to make patterns.
  • Directions use steps and quarter or half turns.
  • A map shows a place from above, with symbols.
Key idea

Flat shapes

  • Flat shapes are 2D. Count their sides and corners.
ShapeSidesCorners
triangle3 straight3
square4 straight, all the same4
rectangle4 straight4
pentagon5 straight5
hexagon6 straight6
circle1 curved0
oval1 curved0
semicircle1 straight and 1 curved2
Key idea

Solid shapes

  • Solid shapes are 3D. You can pick them up.
  • Some have flat faces, some have curved surfaces, some have both.
ShapeLooks likeFaces
cubea dice6 squares
cuboid (rectangular prism)a cereal box6 rectangles
square pyramida pointed roof1 square and 4 triangles
conea road cone1 circle and a curved surface
cylindera can2 circles and a curved surface
Key idea

Try it: flat or solid?

Key idea

Shapes and nets

Worked example

Shape words in te reo Māori

  • Use these words when you sort shapes.
  • Two triangles the same size are ōrite. A triangle and a square are rerekē.
Te reo MāoriEnglish
tapatorutriangle
tapawhā ritesquare
ōritesame
rerekēdifferent
Key idea

Flip, slide and turn

  • Flip: the shape flips over, like a pancake. It becomes a mirror picture.
  • Slide: the shape moves along without flipping or turning.
  • Turn: the shape spins around a point.
  • None of these moves changes the size or the shape.
  • Moves make patterns, like a triangle flipped again and again along a kōwhaiwhai border.
  • Moves also build shapes: two semicircles make a circle, and two triangles can make a square.
MoveAlso calledWhat happens
flipreflectbecomes a mirror picture
slidetranslatemoves along
turnrotatespins around a point
Key idea

Try it: flip, slide and turn

Worked example

Giving directions

  • Directions say which way to go, how far, and when to turn.
  • Count steps for distance. Use quarter turns and half turns to change direction.
  • A half turn makes you face the way you came.
StepDirection
1Walk forward 10 steps to the library.
2Make a quarter turn to the right.
3Walk forward 5 steps.
4Make a quarter turn to the left. The hall door is in front of you.
Worked example

Reading a map

  • A map shows a place from above, like a bird looking down.
  • Symbols stand for things, like a green circle for a tree. The key tells you what each symbol means.
  • Use words like next to, between, behind, in front of, left of and right of.
On our school mapWhere it is
the hallnext to the library
the gatebetween the car park and the office
the fieldbehind the classrooms
the playgroundleft of the hall

Common mistakes

  • A square turned onto its corner is a new shape.
    Turning does not change a shape. It is still a square, still tapawhā rite.
  • A cone is a kind of pyramid.
    A cone has a round base and a curved surface. A pyramid has only flat faces and straight edges.
  • A quarter turn and a half turn face the same way.
    A quarter turn faces the side. A half turn faces back the way you came.
  • A map shows things from the side.
    A map shows the view from above, with symbols for things.

Your turn

1

How many sides does a hexagon have?

2

What is triangle in te reo Māori?

3

Which solid has a circle at the bottom and a point at the top?

4

You face the gate and make a half turn. Which way do you face now?

5

A shape moves along without flipping or turning. What is that move called?

Show answer

1. 6 2. tapatoru 3. a cone 4. away from the gate 5. a slide

Summary

What to take away

  • Sort shapes by sides, corners, faces and curves.
  • Tapatoru, tapawhā rite, ōrite, rerekē.
  • Flip, slide and turn keep the same shape.
  • Directions: steps and turns. Maps: the view from above.
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