2-D shapes (age 6+)
Identify and describe properties of 2-D shapes including the number of sides and line symmetry in a vertical line
What a learner can do afterwards
- Count the number of sides of a given 2-D shape
- Identify whether a 2-D shape has a vertical line of symmetry
- Use properties (number of sides, symmetry) to describe and distinguish between shapes
The lesson
A 2-D shape is flat, like a shape you draw on paper. Every 2-D shape has sides, the straight or curved edges that make its outline. To count the sides, touch each edge once and say the number.
Priya looks at a hexagon. She touches each edge and counts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The hexagon has 6 sides.
Some shapes have a vertical line of symmetry. Imagine a straight line going up and down through the middle of the shape. If both halves match exactly, like a mirror, the shape has a vertical line of symmetry.
A square and a rectangle both have 4 sides and a vertical line of symmetry, but a scalene triangle, with three different side lengths, does not have one. Counting sides and checking for symmetry helps you tell shapes apart.
Count each side once, and check if a straight up-and-down line splits the shape into two matching halves.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
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.