Unit 6: Geometry
Parent Resources
Activities/Tutorials
Geometric Shapes with Tangrams Using this video tutorial, learn how to create paper tangram pieces. After creating pieces, viewers are asked to create puzzles on their desks and then create the same puzzle with virtual tangram pieces on the screen.
Geometry on Pinterest Visit MLC's Pinterest Board for ideas that explore geometry.
Polygon Movie Stars Third Graders Blog entry describes a third grade video production about polygons and provides a link to the performance.
Polygon Playground Drag shapes to explore polygons and create pictures, tessellations, symmetrical objects, and patterns.
Quad! Song names quadrilaterals--square, kite, rhombus, trapezoid, rectangle, parallelogram--and their properties.
Know Your Quadrilaterals Video shows a variety of quadrilaterals as part of a family tree, different yet related. Shapes include: kite, trapezoid, parallelogram, square, rectangle, and rhombus.
Identify a Fraction as a Point on a Number Line This video from Learn Zillion demonstrates how to divide a number line into equal parts in order to identify a fraction on the line.
Attend to Precision: Fractions and Geoboards In this Annenberg Learner video, students"attend to precision", exploring a variety of ways to find one-half on the geoboard. Watch a similar, related video, "Construct Arguments: Fractions and Geoboards."
Apps
Geoboard App With this virtual geoboard, students stretch bands around pegs to form line segments and polygons and make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more. iPad and online versions available.
Books
The link below will direct you to books that can be purchased at Amazon. These were added with the intention of providing a list of appropriate books that they could check out from our local library. This link was chosen because you can preview the books and see what the cover looks like so it will be easier to find at the library.
Geometry Books Visit the Math Learning Center Virtual Bookshelf for titles on geometry, grades 3-5.
The Warlord's Puzzle A young peasant boy convinces his poor but wise father to enter a contest to solve the warlord's puzzle, the tangram.
Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes This Hello Reader book tells a variation of The Three Little Pigs using tangrams.
Grandfather Tang's Story Grandfather tells granddaughter the story of two fox fairies using tangram pieces.
If You Were a Quadrilateral Book describes shapes and properties of quadrilaterals.
The Greedy Triangle When a triangle becomes dissatisfied with his shape, a shapeshifter keeps adding additional sides/angles to his form.
Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter Characters explore area and perimeter of rectangles and circles in this book from the Sir Cumference series.
Spaghetti and Meatballs for All Mr. and Mrs. Comfort are having a family reunion. Mr. Comfort starts cooking up his famous spaghetti and meatballs, while Mrs. Comfort carefully arranges eight tables and 32 chairs so that everyone will have a seat... but the guests arrive with their own seating plans. This book uses wit and humor to draw children into thinking about area and perimeter.
Quilt Books Visit the Math Learning Center Virtual Bookshelf for titles that complement the quilt theme.
Fraction Books Visit the Math Learning Center Virtual Bookshelf for titles with fraction themes.
Geometric Shapes with Tangrams Using this video tutorial, learn how to create paper tangram pieces. After creating pieces, viewers are asked to create puzzles on their desks and then create the same puzzle with virtual tangram pieces on the screen.
Geometry on Pinterest Visit MLC's Pinterest Board for ideas that explore geometry.
Polygon Movie Stars Third Graders Blog entry describes a third grade video production about polygons and provides a link to the performance.
Polygon Playground Drag shapes to explore polygons and create pictures, tessellations, symmetrical objects, and patterns.
Quad! Song names quadrilaterals--square, kite, rhombus, trapezoid, rectangle, parallelogram--and their properties.
Know Your Quadrilaterals Video shows a variety of quadrilaterals as part of a family tree, different yet related. Shapes include: kite, trapezoid, parallelogram, square, rectangle, and rhombus.
Identify a Fraction as a Point on a Number Line This video from Learn Zillion demonstrates how to divide a number line into equal parts in order to identify a fraction on the line.
Attend to Precision: Fractions and Geoboards In this Annenberg Learner video, students"attend to precision", exploring a variety of ways to find one-half on the geoboard. Watch a similar, related video, "Construct Arguments: Fractions and Geoboards."
Apps
Geoboard App With this virtual geoboard, students stretch bands around pegs to form line segments and polygons and make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more. iPad and online versions available.
Books
The link below will direct you to books that can be purchased at Amazon. These were added with the intention of providing a list of appropriate books that they could check out from our local library. This link was chosen because you can preview the books and see what the cover looks like so it will be easier to find at the library.
Geometry Books Visit the Math Learning Center Virtual Bookshelf for titles on geometry, grades 3-5.
The Warlord's Puzzle A young peasant boy convinces his poor but wise father to enter a contest to solve the warlord's puzzle, the tangram.
Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes This Hello Reader book tells a variation of The Three Little Pigs using tangrams.
Grandfather Tang's Story Grandfather tells granddaughter the story of two fox fairies using tangram pieces.
If You Were a Quadrilateral Book describes shapes and properties of quadrilaterals.
The Greedy Triangle When a triangle becomes dissatisfied with his shape, a shapeshifter keeps adding additional sides/angles to his form.
Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter Characters explore area and perimeter of rectangles and circles in this book from the Sir Cumference series.
Spaghetti and Meatballs for All Mr. and Mrs. Comfort are having a family reunion. Mr. Comfort starts cooking up his famous spaghetti and meatballs, while Mrs. Comfort carefully arranges eight tables and 32 chairs so that everyone will have a seat... but the guests arrive with their own seating plans. This book uses wit and humor to draw children into thinking about area and perimeter.
Quilt Books Visit the Math Learning Center Virtual Bookshelf for titles that complement the quilt theme.
Fraction Books Visit the Math Learning Center Virtual Bookshelf for titles with fraction themes.
Games for Kids
Concentration Click on the desired mode to play a game in which you match each shape, array, percent, or fraction visual with its name. The game will play an audio recording of the name.
Tangram Puzzles Click and drag pieces to complete a variety of online tangram puzzles from NCTM.
Tangram Game Click and drag shapes to create tangram puzzles in this Cyberchase activity.
Airlines Builder In this Cyberchase game, players must construct 3 different ships with the same perimeter by clicking and dragging edge pieces. After the ship is built, the "seats" are filled to show area. After finding all shapes with a perimeter of 8, find shapes with perimeter of 10.
Polygon Playground Drag shapes to explore polygons and create pictures, tessellations, symmetrical objects, and patterns.
Quadrilateral Quest Drag and drop shapes with given properties into the area at right.
Quadrilateral Shapes Shoot Click on a specified type of quadrilateral in this arcade game.
Area and Perimeter Using the exercises provided, practice calculating area or perimeter, choosing from three levels of difficulty.
Chairs This NCTM applet explores how many chairs are needed for different tables in a restaurant. In explore mode, the chair arrangement is displayed. In guess mode, player must enter the correct number of chairs. An almost identical applet from Shodor, Tables and Chairs, is also available.
Polyominoes Use virtual tile to create designs and patterns and explore area. Click on Instructions for general information. Uses Java.
Shape Explorer Calculate area and perimeter for a given shape and type in the correct answer.
Zoo Designer Click and drag a shape tool to create enclosures that are the correct area and/or perimeter for animals at the zoo.
Bamzooki Fractions Basic Click on the number button to divide the floor arena into the number of segments that match the denominator. Then click on floor segments to color in divisions to represent the numerator.
Fraction Flags Click on an array to paint a flag with specific combinations of halves and quarters.
Geoboard App With this virtual geoboard, students stretch bands around pegs to form line segments and polygons and make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more. iPad and online versions available.
Pattern Block Fractions Click on a given fraction of a pattern block design. Game uses thirds and halves.
Shading Blocks Color blocks to represent a given fraction. Five levels from which to select. At the lowest level players shade in 1/2 of 4,6,8, or 10; at the highest level, shade in 1/3 or 2/3 of 6, 9, or 12. TESiboard activity.
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Half Find 13 different ways to show one-half by highlighting 4 out of 8 congruent triangles that are arranged in a square.
Tangram Puzzles Click and drag pieces to complete a variety of online tangram puzzles from NCTM.
Tangram Game Click and drag shapes to create tangram puzzles in this Cyberchase activity.
Airlines Builder In this Cyberchase game, players must construct 3 different ships with the same perimeter by clicking and dragging edge pieces. After the ship is built, the "seats" are filled to show area. After finding all shapes with a perimeter of 8, find shapes with perimeter of 10.
Polygon Playground Drag shapes to explore polygons and create pictures, tessellations, symmetrical objects, and patterns.
Quadrilateral Quest Drag and drop shapes with given properties into the area at right.
Quadrilateral Shapes Shoot Click on a specified type of quadrilateral in this arcade game.
Area and Perimeter Using the exercises provided, practice calculating area or perimeter, choosing from three levels of difficulty.
Chairs This NCTM applet explores how many chairs are needed for different tables in a restaurant. In explore mode, the chair arrangement is displayed. In guess mode, player must enter the correct number of chairs. An almost identical applet from Shodor, Tables and Chairs, is also available.
Polyominoes Use virtual tile to create designs and patterns and explore area. Click on Instructions for general information. Uses Java.
Shape Explorer Calculate area and perimeter for a given shape and type in the correct answer.
Zoo Designer Click and drag a shape tool to create enclosures that are the correct area and/or perimeter for animals at the zoo.
Bamzooki Fractions Basic Click on the number button to divide the floor arena into the number of segments that match the denominator. Then click on floor segments to color in divisions to represent the numerator.
Fraction Flags Click on an array to paint a flag with specific combinations of halves and quarters.
Geoboard App With this virtual geoboard, students stretch bands around pegs to form line segments and polygons and make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more. iPad and online versions available.
Pattern Block Fractions Click on a given fraction of a pattern block design. Game uses thirds and halves.
Shading Blocks Color blocks to represent a given fraction. Five levels from which to select. At the lowest level players shade in 1/2 of 4,6,8, or 10; at the highest level, shade in 1/3 or 2/3 of 6, 9, or 12. TESiboard activity.
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Half Find 13 different ways to show one-half by highlighting 4 out of 8 congruent triangles that are arranged in a square.
*Adapted from Bridges in Mathematics, The Math Learning Center Salem, Oregon by Danielle Baumgart Chippewa Valley Schools, 2015