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Building and breaking 2D and 3D shapes

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  • For teachers and practitioners
  • Espresso
  • Building and breaking 2D and 3D shapes
  • Espresso
  • 50: Covariational reasoning
  • 49: Teaching and learning equivalence
  • 48: Early development of functional thinking
  • 47: Developing concepts of pattern
  • 46: Building and breaking 2D and 3D shapes
  • 45: Teaching logical reasoning
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19 July 2023

An infographic showing Four strategies that support building a geometric design out of component parts. Two approaches which are disembedding, and two which are embedding

What does research suggest about building up and breaking down 2D and 3D shapes?

  • A general strategy of exploration, alongside building understanding and using specific vocabulary, is suggested to support understanding of and familiarity with 2D and 3D shapes
  • Student experiences with shapes should include drawing, describing and playing with a range of straight and curved edged examples (not just polygons)
  • Students can be encouraged to develop skills of composing and decomposing through hands-on experiences with shape that include exploration, trial and improvement, and intentional prediction and planning
  • Useful student experiences that help develop fluent geometric composition and decomposition may include manipulating pattern blocks, making shapes, combining/taking apart shapes and repeating combinations iteratively
  • Providing activities that use overlapping shapes to make a target image (see infographic) can support students’ embedding and disembedding; scaffolding these tasks to attend to colour, orientation and order at different stages may be helpful
  • Constructing and deconstructing when building with 3D shapes develop skills that progress from random placements of shapes to planned construction which utilises their properties
  • Structuring block play can support the development of spatial reasoning and scaled construction skills, and setting tasks within a storytelling context may increase engagement and spatial visualisation
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