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It is important that students know what parallel lines are when describing shapes.

This starter revises parallel lines and right angles.

Ask students to walk around the classroom and school on a treasure hunt to find examples of each of these shapes.

triangle (equilateral, isosceles, scalene, right-angled)

square

rectangle

parallelogram

trapezium

rhombus

circle

You could have two or three groups race to find a complete set.

Students could take one photo of each different shape they find.

If some of these are missing you may have to “add” them by putting a picture on the wall or bring shapes and “hide” them before students arrive in the classroom. Some places to find the less common shapes are paving, ceilings, gates, curtains (if they are patterned), gym equipment, platform ladders (trapezia), stools or chair legs (trapezia).

You could challenge students to find a shape that isn’t in the list above and then describe it when they share the results.

This s displays the instructions for a game of “Guess my shape.”

1. Get into groups of 3 or 4 students.

2. Your teacher will think of a shape.

3. Groups take turns to ask questions of the teacher who can only answer yes or no.

Examples:     “Does the shape have more than four sides?”

“Does the shape have any parallel sides?”

“Does the shape have any right angles?”

4. When it is your group’s turn you can either ask a question or guess what the shape is.

5. The winning group is the one that correctly guesses the shape.

Ask students to find examples of these solids in real life.

You could have two or three groups racing to find a complete set.

Students could take a photo of each different shape.

cube

cuboid

cone

cylinder

pyramid with a square base

pyramid with another shaped base

prism with triangular ends

any other prism

sphere

Make a feely box that you can put your hands inside. A cardboard box with some material draped over a hole in each side of the box works well.

Put some real life 3-D solids inside the box one at a time.

Choose objects that are a bit more challenging than just a cuboid. It could have knobs or “extra bits” so that students have to try to identify the major shape. Shapes with different textures are good too.

Ask a student to come and put their hands in the box and describe the solid they feel. They are not allowed to say the name of the solid if they know it. Each student secretly writes down what they think the shape is, making sure they put the name of the student who is describing the shape beside it.

Once everyone has had a turn at the feely box, students show their list of shapes. The person with the most shapes correct is the winner.

You could do this as a class or in groups with several feely boxes.

This displays a sheet with some photos of real life shapes and a box with names.

Example: present, ball, A-frame house, pyramid, etc.

Students are asked to match the shapes with names.