Our lives are surrounded with shapes, from the basic ones (squares, circles) to the complicated ones (cylinders). In order to develop concepts of shapes, children should experience themselves to the varieties of shapes available (Heirdsfield, 2011).
In addition, Hannibal (1999) also stresses that teachers should focus on the students being able to identify the attributes that are related to each shape rather than just merely identifying the names. In relation to this, Hannibal (1999) suggests some activities that can be used by the teachers in the classroom to introduce the concepts of shapes accurately and appropriately, so that children will have a sound foundation of the concepts and that they will be able to develop their understanding about geometry better. The examples of activities are:
1) Looking at puzzles, books or other objects and discussing attributes of the shapes (do rectangles vary in size, right angles, obtuse, isosceles triangles and etc.)
2) Include the concepts and study of shapes not only in maths but other areas of the curriculum as well
3) Feely bag activities
4) Finding shapes around the room
5) Observing shapes from different angles
6) Working with tessellations
7) Cooking activities involving shapes
8) Shape bingo (Hannibal 1999)
Visualising
What does this cube look like from the top?
A square.
If the cube is cut in halves from one face to an opposite face, what might the 2 new shapes look like?
Two blocks of rectangle.
Attributes
What are the attributes of this cube?
It has 6 faces, 3 points, same angles for all sides and the straight lines are connected.
If we look at the picture, what shape does the can have?
A cylinder.
Now if we look at the picture from the above, what shape do we see?
A circle.
Visualising
What are the shapes that we can find in the picture of the can?
A cylinder and a circle.
Attributes
What are the attributes that a cylinder has?
It has 2 round faces which are referred to as its flat base and top. The base is the same as the top, and also in-between. It also has one curved side.
More examples of cylinders
You can even have stranger cylinders: if the cross-section is curved and is the same from one end to the other, then it will still be a cylinder.
Tangrams
Developing Geometry Understandings and Spatial Skills through Puzzle-like Problems with Tangrams
It is important for students to understand the important aspects of geometry especially indescribing figures and visualising what they look like when they are transformed through rotations or flips or are put together or taken apart in different ways (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2011). Tangram can be used by students to play around creating polygons in order for them to be familiar with the concepts and build their own understanding on geometry concepts. Some of the polygons that students can try to make from the tangram:
1) Make a square using only one tangram piece.
2) Make a square using two tangram pieces.
3) Make a square using three tangram pieces.
4) Make a square using four tangram pieces.
5) Make a square using five tangram pieces.
6) Make a square using six tangram pieces.
7) Make a square using all seven tangram pieces.
Example of online activity on shapes that students can access to:
 |
