3D Shapes
Maths: Year 3 & 4 National Curriculum, topic 3.2.2
3D Shapes
3D shapes are three-dimensional and have depth.
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Cubes
- A cube has 6 square faces.
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Cuboids
- A cuboid has 6 rectangle faces.
Square-based pyramid
- A square-based pyramid is made up of 1 square face and 4 triangle faces.
Other pyramids
- You can have pyramids with other shaped bases.
- A triangular-based pyramid has a triangle base.
- A square-based pyramid has a square base.
- A hexagonal-based pyramid has a hexagonal base.
Triangular prism
- Triangular prisms have 2 triangular faces and 3 rectangular faces.
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Cylinder
- Cylinders have two circular faces on each end.
Cone
- Cones have a circular face on its base.
Making 3D Shapes
We can make 3D shapes out of various materials like cardboard or modelling clay.
Modelling clay
- Try to make it as round as possible for a sphere.
- Squeeze it between your finger and thumb to turn it into a cube, pyramid, prism or cone.
Making 3D frames
- We can use uncooked spaghetti and jelly-babies to make 3D shape frames.
- Cut the jelly-babies in half.
- Use the spaghetti to join the jelly-babies together.
- Use 8 half jelly-babies to form the vertices (corners) of a cube.
- Use 12 equal-length pieces of spaghetti to make the edges of a cube.
Making 3D frames cont.
- Try to make a triangular-based pyramid (tetrahedron) and a triangular prism.
- Count how many jelly-babies (vertices) you needed for each.
- Count how many spaghetti pieces (edges) you needed.
- A tetrahedron has 4 vertices and 6 edges.
- A triangular prism has 6 vertices and 9 edges.
Test yourself on 3D Shapes
What 2D shapes are a square-based pyramid made up of?
What 2D shapes are a cuboid made up of?
What 2D shapes are a cube made up of?
What kind of spaghetti can you use to make a 3D frame?
How many pieces of spaghetti would you need to make a triangular prism?