Nets of 3-D Shapes · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Nets of 3-D Shapes

Mathematics · Geometry · ages 8-11
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. A cuboid net shows 2 small, 2 medium and 2 large faces. How many faces is that altogether?

    Answer: ______________

  2. How many square faces does the net of a cube have?

    • 4
    • 8
    • 6
    • 5

  3. What do we call the flat shape that folds up to make a 3-D shape?

    • A net
    • A face
    • An edge

  4. A triangular prism's net is made only of triangles.

    Circle one:   True   False

  5. Four nets are shown and only one folds into a cube. How many of the nets fail?

    Answer: ______________

  6. You fold a net and two edges that should meet leave a gap instead. What does that tell you?

    • The net is correct
    • The net won't close into a complete solid
    • The shape needs fewer faces

  7. A triangular prism has 2 triangular ends. How many rectangular faces join them?

    • 2
    • 4
    • 5
    • 3

  8. Lily picks a net whose squares would overlap when folded and says overlaps are fine. Is Lily right?

    Circle one:   True   False

  9. Four nets are shown side by side. Three are made of six squares, and one has five squares plus a triangle. Which net will NOT fold into a cube, and how can you tell without folding it?

    • The one with a triangle, because a cube's net uses only squares
    • The one with a triangle, because it has too many faces
    • None, all four fold into cubes

  10. A cube has edges 3 cm long. What is the area of one face in square centimetres?

    Answer: ______________

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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Nets of 3-D Shapes W1-mt_vnJEztczji-s1

  1. 6 · It is 6 faces because 2 + 2 + 2 = 6.
  2. 6 · 6 is correct because a cube has 6 identical square faces.
  3. A net · A net is the flat pattern of a 3-D shape before it gets folded up.
  4. False · A triangular prism's net has two triangles for the ends and three rectangles for the sides in between.
  5. 3 · 3 nets fail because 4 shown minus 1 good net leaves 3.
  6. The net won't close into a complete solid · When edges don't line up on folding, the net doesn't form a closed 3-D shape, so something about it is wrong.
  7. 3 · 3 is correct because a triangle has 3 sides and each side carries one rectangle.
  8. False · Lily is wrong because folded faces must meet edge to edge exactly once, with no overlaps and no gaps.
  9. The one with a triangle, because a cube's net uses only squares · A cube's net is always six squares. Any face that isn't a square means that net can't close into a cube.
  10. 9 · One face is 9 square centimetres because 3 x 3 = 9.
Worksheet · LightMySky