Gr 3–5 · 45 min
Prisms and pyramids
Coming soon. We're checking this lesson against the app, step by step, so it works when you run it with a class. You can read the plan now. The lesson pack, teaching mode and assigning open once it's checked.
Sort, build and count: the base shape names the solid, and the counts follow a pattern.
Ontario Gr 3–5 · Spatial Sense E1
Learning goals
- Tell prisms from pyramids
- Name a prism or pyramid by its base
- Find the pattern in the face, edge and vertex counts
Plan
- 1
Build20 minStudents
Each group builds all four solids, printed from this lesson's page or from FoldNets' Shapes list.
- 2
Sort5 minYou lead
Sort the four into two families. What makes a prism (two matching ends joined by rectangles)? A pyramid (one base, triangles meeting at a point)?
- 3
Count15 minStudents
Fill a table of faces, edges and vertices for each solid. FoldNets shows the counts above the model, to check.
- 4
Pattern5 minYou lead
A prism with an n-sided base has n + 2 faces; a pyramid has n + 1. Predict the counts for an octagonal prism.
To talk about
- Is a cube a prism?
- Which family always has an even number of vertices? Why?