Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v5 - Grade 2

Space and shape: more 2D shapes and 3D objects – Week 10 focus

Download the Lessonotes Mobile South Africa app for faster lesson access on Android and iPhone.

Subject: Mathematics

Class: Grade 2

Term: 3rd Term

Week: 10

Theme: General lesson support

Lesson Video

This page supports the lesson note with a companion video and a short classroom-ready summary.

For class groups and homework, share this lesson page so learners also get the summary, objectives, and full lesson context.

Performance objectives

Lesson summary

This week, we’re going to explore more 2D shapes and 3D objects. Understanding shapes is important because they are all around us! From the rectangular shape of a door to the round shape of a soccer ball, recognising and describing shapes helps us understand and interact with the world better. Imagine trying to build a house without knowing the shape of a brick or drawing a picture without knowing how to draw a circle. Understanding shapes helps us with building, art, reading maps, and even packing our school bags! Knowing shapes also helps us to understand sizes of things. Will that round ball fit in the square box?

Lesson notes

2D Shapes (Two-Dimensional): These are shapes that are flat and can be drawn on a piece of paper. They only have length and width. This week, we’re focusing on pentagons, hexagons, and octagons.

Pentagon: A pentagon has 5 straight sides and 5 corners (also called vertices). Think of the Pentagon building in America!

Example: A soccer ball often has pentagonal shapes stitched together.

Hexagon: A hexagon has 6 straight sides and 6 corners.

Example: Some honeycombs are made of hexagonal shapes.

Octagon: An octagon has 8 straight sides and 8 corners.

Example: A stop sign on the road is usually an octagon. This helps us to remember what it means - stop! 3D Objects (Three-Dimensional): These are objects that have length, width, and height. They take up space. We’re focusing on cubes, rectangular prisms, cylinders, cones, and spheres.

Cube: A cube has 6 square faces, 12 edges, and 8 vertices (corners). All the faces are identical squares.

Example: A dice is a good example of a cube.

Rectangular Prism: A rectangular prism has 6 faces, 12 edges, and 8 vertices. All the faces are rectangles, but some can be squares. Think of a stretched-out cube.

Example: A brick, a shoebox, and a container are all rectangular prisms.

Cylinder: A cylinder has two flat, circular faces and a curved surface connecting them. It has two circular edges. It has no vertices.

Example: A tin of canned beans, a toilet paper roll, or a drinking glass is usually in the shape of a cylinder.

Cone: A cone has one flat, circular face and a curved surface that comes to a point (vertex). It has one circular edge and one vertex.

Example: An ice cream cone or a traffic cone.

Sphere: A sphere is perfectly round, like a ball. It has no flat faces, no edges, and no vertices.

Example: A soccer ball, a marble, or a tennis ball.

Properties of 2D Shapes and 3D Objects: It is important to describe the shapes and objects using their properties. For 2D shapes, we describe them by counting the number of sides (the straight lines that make up the shape) and corners (where the sides meet, also called vertices).

Example: A pentagon has 5 sides and 5 corners. A hexagon has 6 sides and 6 corners. For 3D objects, we describe them by counting the number of faces (the flat surfaces), edges (where two faces meet), and vertices (corners, where three or more edges meet).

Example: A cube has 6 faces, 12 edges, and 8 vertices.

Worked example

Identify the shape: You see a road sign with 8 sides. What shape is it?

Solution: It's an octagon because an octagon has 8 sides.

Identify the object: You are playing with a toy that has six rectangular faces. What object is it?

Solution: It's a rectangular prism because it has six rectangular faces.

Describing a Cube: How many faces, edges, and vertices does a cube have?

Solution: A cube has 6 faces, 12 edges, and 8 vertices.

Sorting shapes: You have cut out a few shapes: square, triangle, pentagon and circle. Sort them as 2D shapes with only straight sides, and 2D shapes with curved sides.

Solution: Straight sides: square, triangle, pentagon.

Curved sides: circle.

Guided Practice (With Solutions)

Question 1: Draw a pentagon. How many sides does it have?

Solution:

Draw a shape with 5 straight sides that connect to make a closed shape.

Count the sides: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.