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BOXED IN
Topic: GEOMETRY
Grades: 3-5
Watch your students' geometry skills shape up as they fold 2-D shapes into 3-D cubes!
Learning Objective:
Students use nets to investigate two- and three-dimensional shapes.
NCTM Standard: Geometry
Identify and build a three-dimensional object from a two-dimensional shape.
DIRECTIONS:
Materials Needed:
- A copy of "Boxed In" activity (click here for printable PDF version) for each student
- Scissors
- Tape
Class Periods: 1-2
1. Have students analyze objects that are cubes. Note that all cubes have six faces and each is a square.
2. Hand out the activity "Boxed In." Note that the boxes in this activity must have a bottom, four sides, and a top. Also, no overlap is allowed (having one face glued to another face). As a class, read the directions and have students predict which 2-D shapes will form a cube.
3. Distribute scissors and tape. Students should cut out the shapes and test their predictions by trying to form cubes.
Answers: Shape labeled "C" can be folded into a cube.
Cyberchase Episode: Eureeka
Pursued by Hacker, Digit lands on cybersite Eureeka, where his mission is to find Professor Archimedes. Archimedes is the maker of a unique encryptor
chip that can fix Motherboard. But he is nowhere to be found. There is only a pile of 2-dimensional rods where his chip factory should be. The kids arrive to help, and discover that by linking the 2-dimensional rods together into certain geometrical patterns they actually create a surprising 3-dimensional shape that leads directly to unraveling the mystery of Archimedes' strange disappearance.
The Big Idea:
When you follow simple rules to make flat geometrical shapes (2-D), and join them together, you can discover new shapes that, instead of staying flat, rise up to make 3-D objects.
Cyberchase FOR REAL (Epilogue)
In the live-action segment of "Eureeka!", Harry orders the perfect present for his sister -- a two-story dollhouse with six rooms! However, what comes in the mail is a thin, flat box with two-dimensional pieces of cardboard! Join in the fun as Harry transforms the flat pieces of the house into a roomy place to play.
Math Message: How can you change flat, two-dimensional geometrical shapes into a three-dimensional object?
More Math Fun:
For an extra challenge, have students experiment with shapes that can be folded into 3-D rectangular prisms.
Invite children to find the two-dimensional shapes in different cardboard boxes by taking them apart. Then put them back together! Try finding boxes with irregular shapes -- like a cylindrical hat box or an octagonal pizza box!
Online games featuring similar math themes:
- 2D to 3D Morphing (Make 3D objects from print outs)
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