What Are Shapes?
Look around you. You can see many different objects such as a ball, book, door, plate, window and box. These objects have different forms or outlines. These forms are called shapes.
Shapes help us describe and recognise objects. Some shapes are round, while others have straight sides and corners.
Learning Objectives
- Understand what a shape is.
- Recognise simple shapes.
- Notice sides and corners.
- Compare simple shapes.
Understanding Shapes
Different shapes can look different because they have different numbers of sides, corners or curved parts.
These are examples of simple shapes.
A circle is round. A square has four equal sides. A rectangle has four sides, and a triangle has three sides.
Sides and Corners
A straight part of a shape is called a side. The point where two sides meet is called a corner.
A triangle has 3 sides and 3 corners.
A square has 4 sides and 4 corners.
Examples Around Us
- A plate can look like a circle.
- A window can look like a rectangle.
- A square tile can look like a square.
- A triangular sign can look like a triangle.
Common Mistakes
- Do not count a curved edge as a straight side.
- Do not assume every four-sided shape is a square.
- Look at the complete shape before naming it.
Practice
1. What do we call the form of an object?
2. How many sides does a triangle have?
3. How many corners does a square have?
4. Name one round object.
Try It Yourself
Look around your room and find three objects. Try to identify the shape that each object looks like.
Quick Revision
- Shapes help us describe objects.
- Shapes can have straight sides, curved parts and corners.
- Different shapes have different properties.
Next Step
Now that you understand what shapes are, the next lesson will focus on one of the simplest shapes: the circle.