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2-D faces on 3-D shapes

Identify 2-D shapes on the surface of 3-D shapes (e.g. a circle on a cylinder, a triangle on a pyramid)

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What a learner can do afterwards

  • Point out a circular face on a cylinder or cone
  • Identify triangular faces on a pyramid
  • Recognise that the faces of 3-D shapes are 2-D shapes

The lesson

Solid shapes like a cone or a pyramid have flat parts on the outside. Each flat part is called a face. Every face is a 2-D shape you already know, like a circle, a triangle, or a square.

A cylinder, like a can, has two flat ends. Each end is a circle.
Try it together

A cone, like an ice-cream cone, also has a flat circle face on the bottom. If you peel the paper off a can and lay it flat, the curved side turns into a rectangle.

Try it together

A pyramid has triangle faces on its sides. They meet at a point at the top. The bottom face can be a square.

Good to know

To find a face, run your finger over a flat part of a solid shape until you reach an edge. Then look at the flat shape you traced.

Every face on a solid shape is a flat 2-D shape, like a circle, triangle, or square.

Watch it

Where it sits

Learn first

This opens up

Nothing builds on it yet.

Where this leads

Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.

Then practise

8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.

2-D faces on 3-D shapes · Mathematics, ages 6 to 7 · LightMySky