Activity:

Discuss shapes and figures within the students’ environment.  Help students recognize the mathematical language used to describe the attributes or parts of two- and three-dimensional shapes/figures.

Activity:

Give pairs of students a polyhedron model (rectangular prism, cylinder, or pyramid) along with some toothpicks and thawed frozen peas. Demonstrate to the students how to create a “skeleton” of the model they have been given, using the toothpicks and peas. After they have completed their skeleton model, have them answer the following questions about their models.

·        How many faces?

·        How many corners?

·        How many edges?

After all groups have answered the questions about their models, have them sort the models by characteristics such as

·        the number of edges

·        the shapes of the faces

·        the number of corners

Activity:

Describe the faces of a rectangular prism, pointing to the vertices and edges of the prism. Ask students to do the same—choose a shape or figure and describe its parts.  Have students use appropriate mathematical vocabulary to describe the shapes and parts.