KS3 Maths – 6 of the best geometry resources for 3D shape recognition

by Teachwire

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SecondaryMaths

We’re introduced to shapes from a very early age from playing with balls to putting cubes through square-shaped holes.

But at that point we’re only interested in things like the volume of a cone if it’s one we’re filling with ice cream.

Anything else is probably a bit much for young children to take on board.

Introducing the finer details of 3D shapes to KS3 students can be difficult for them, so we’ve rounded up some handy resources to try online or print off in class that will help ease them into this aspect of geometry.

1 | 3D shape guide

For students in need of a simple primer to help them recognise and understand three-dimensional shapes this BBC video is quick and easy to understand.

You can watch it here.

2 | Solids and nets

These two worksheets on 3D representations of solids and nets cover isometric drawings and 3D representations and beyond with a number of great activities for students to challenge themselves with.

Both are free to download here.

3 | Planes of symmetry

This interactive quiz is only short, with 10 questions to complete, but there are three difficulty settings if you want to differentiate, or if students want to work their way up.

It works as a good visual guide to symmetry in 3D shapes.

Try it here.

4 | Explore and play with prisms

This nifty little tool lets you explore the properties of four prisms – triangle, rectangle, octagon and pentagon.

You can change the direction and speed of the prism’s rotation and to highlight the numbers of faces (F), vertices (V), and edges (E) for each prism.

Plus there’s a video of each prism’s net, so students can see each one constructed.

Give it a go here.

5 | Cube nets game

Here, you’re given 24 different nets and you have to decide which ones can and cannot form a cube.

Click on each one individually, answer yes or no, and watch as the shape folds together to see whether or not you are correct.

Try your luck here.

6 | Puzzling cube

This activity is great for improving visualisation skills. It gives students three views of a cube, then asks them to place the six sides on a cube net.

Head to the NRICH site to try it out.