Shape City

Day 1: Students will interact with the shape quest website. You may do this whole group or students may do this on their own devices. 

Day 2: Have students go on a scavenger hunt around the classroom or around the school. They are going to look for both 2-D shapes and 3-D shapes. They will draw a picture, label the shape, and write where the shape was found.

Day 3: Students will build 2-d shapes using toothpicks and marshmallows. If you would like, students may write down how many sides each shape has. They can draw pictures in their notebooks. You may also say “I want you to build a shape with 4 sides. Have students present all the different shapes they create. 

Day 4: Students will use the shapes they built yesterday and turn them into 3-d shapes. Allow students to explore how to create 3-d shapes using 2-d shapes. If you would like, students may write down how many sides, faces, and vertices each shape has. They can draw pictures in their notebooks. Allow students to show the shapes they created. Once they create a shape, call it by its correct name. 

Day 5: Have students compare and contrast one of the 2-D shapes and one of the 3-D shapes. They may use the recording sheet in the resources tab.

Day 6-8  Students will create a building using toothpicks and marshmallows. You may also allow them to use other materials if you would like. Students will try and put as many 2-D and 3-D shapes as they can into the building. They may start by sketching a blueprint of their building. They should have at least two  2-D shapes and two 3-D shapes. They will identify which shapes they used. Encourage students to think outside of the box with the shapes of their buildings.

Day 9: Students will combine all of their buildings into a “shape city”. You will place all the buildings together. Students will then do a gallery walk and identify how many unique shapes they can find in the city. They will record their responses on the gallery walk sheet.

Differentiation: Provide students with 2D shapes and have them identify, working with previous knowledge. Model think aloud and discuss in a small group how they know which shape is which. Record the given attributes. Work up to parallelograms, trapezoids, etc. OR Give students a rectangle and a parallelogram. Ask them to find the similarities and differences. Work up from there.

Extension: Increase the required amount of shapes. Have students identify real life examples of 2 and 3D shapes around the room.

Use any of the assignments they will create. A rubric is posted in the resources tab.