Shape and Angle Investigation and Review

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Write One True Thing in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Illustration for Getting Started On screen is a mixed tray: some flat shape cards, some solid shapes, and some angle cards, all jumbled together.

If you had to sort every one of these into groups, what is the very first question you would ask about each one to help you decide?

Teacher Notes

Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Listen for property questions like how many sides? or does it have a right angle? rather than colour or size. If a pupil names a sort by look, gently steer to a maths property.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

Watch the sorts on the board. Each one starts with a single property question. As each card is placed, get ready to say what question decided its group.

First we sort the flat shapes by how many sides they have. Your teacher will place a six-sided shape in its group.

Now the question changes. To tell solid shapes apart we stop counting sides and start counting faces, edges or vertices.

Watch one full sort of solids by number of faces. Your teacher will count every face of a cube: 6 faces, so the cube goes in the 6-faces group. Next, every face of a square-based pyramid: 5 faces, so the pyramid goes in the 5-faces group. The same method works with edges or vertices when that is the better question.

One good property question leads straight to the name and the group.

Teacher Notes

Worked live by you on the board, not a script. Ask the property question aloud before each card lands, then let the class predict the group.

Hexagon into the six-sides group: count the sides, not the way it is turned.
3D worked example (the missing skill). Hold or sketch a cube. Count faces one by one out loud to 6, name the group, place it. Then a square-based pyramid: count faces one by one to 5 (4 triangles + 1 square base), place it in the 5-faces group. Quick flash on the cube only: also 12 edges and 8 vertices, so pupils see those counts are available when the question needs them.
Slip: pupils count only the faces they can see. Rotate the solid or point to hidden faces before the total is fixed.
End by naming the pattern: one good question leads straight to the name.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~6 mins

The rule today

Today we sort this mixed set together on the board. The rule is: is it a right angle or not a right angle?

We will place these in turn:

a square corner from a book
the point of a triangular flag
the wide corner of an open book
an angle on a road sign
the straight edge of an open ruler

Watch out

Watch the ruler's edge carefully when you apply the square-corner test.

Before each card lands, say whether it fits the square-corner test or not.

Right angle or not a right angle?

Teacher Notes

Talk this one through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Use a folded-paper right-angle checker as your reference. Hold out for a reason each time (it fits the square corner exactly), not just a group name. The straight-edge card is the trap: it is a straight angle, bigger than a right angle, so it does not fit — the board now says this, so draw pupils' eyes to it. Rotate four pupils so several place a card.

+15 XP

4 - Write One True Thing in Your Copy ~2 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

In your maths copy, pick any one flat shape, one solid shape and one angle from the lesson.

Beside each one, write one true property sentence — for example, a cube has 6 faces, a pentagon has 5 sides, or this angle is smaller than a right angle, so it is acute.

Teacher Notes

Walk the room glancing for a real property (a count or an angle name), not a colour or a size. This is whole-class copybook practice, not marking.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~10 mins

Today we work through four sorting rounds, each one a step harder:

sort flat shapes by number of sides
sort triangles into their three families
sort angles into acute, right and obtuse
a fully mixed set: choose the right question first

Key point

Before each round, say aloud the one test that will decide the sort.

Before Round 2, we sort one triangle together on the board. We compare its three sides: if all 3 match it is equilateral, if only 2 match it is isosceles, if no sides match it is scalene. Then we place it in its family bucket.

Before Round 3, we test one angle together with the folded-paper square corner. If the angle is smaller than the square corner it is acute, if it fits exactly it is right, if it is wider it is obtuse. Then we place it in its bucket.

After each worked example, you take turns dragging the rest. Use Check when every card is in a bucket.

Sort by the right question

Teacher Notes

Practice round: pupils take turns at the board, class confirms, keep it brisk. Use Check as narration: yes, that is it.

Before Round 2 (first meeting of triangle families). Work one example end to end on the board. Sketch or hold up a triangle with only 2 sides equal. Trace each side and say: side, side match; third is different. Name it isosceles and place it in the Isosceles bucket. Point to the bucket labels (all 3 equal / 2 equal / no sides equal) so the class hears the test before they drag.
Before Round 3 (acute / right / obtuse never shown yet). Work one example with the folded-paper checker. Hold it against a narrow angle: checker sticks out, angle is smaller, name it acute, place in Acute. Quick second flash on a wide-open angle: checker sits inside with a gap, name it obtuse. Right angle still fits exactly. Then open the round.
Round 3 slip: near-right cards. Hold the checker on each before deciding.
Round 4: no rule given. Ask what should we look at first? before anyone drags. Flat or solid is the question.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 7 · 2D and 3D Shapes and Angles Data & Chance

Lesson 89 · Shape and Angle Investigation and Review

Download Activity Book page (PDF)

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This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

3 - Try It Together ~6 mins

Right angle or not a right angle?

4 - Write One True Thing in Your Copy ~2 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~10 mins

Sort by the right question

Unlock the full learning experience

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