Combining Simple Shapes
Compose simple shapes to form larger shapes (e.g. two triangles make a rectangle)
What a learner can do afterwards
- Join two triangles to make a rectangle or larger triangle
- Use pattern blocks to fill a hexagon outline
- Create a picture or design by combining basic shapes
1 · Read
You know shapes like triangles and squares. Take a rectangle. Cut it from corner to corner. You get two matching triangles. The cut edge is the long edge on each part.
Ben has a six-sided puzzle. It has six matching triangle pieces. They fill it with no gaps. A shape with six straight sides is called a hexagon.
Shapes can make a picture. A triangle on top of a square makes a house. The triangle is the roof. A triangle sail and a long hull make a boat. The hull is the boat's body.
Round edges leave gaps. A circle cannot press flat on a straight edge. That is why a circle cannot fill a rectangle corner.
Try turning a shape around. Sometimes a turned shape fits together better.
Small shapes can join together to make bigger, new shapes.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
18 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.