Grade level: 4-5

Teacher Materials Needed:
Packets of shapes to be cut out and put together
Toothpicks
Gumdrops

Student Materials Needed:
Scissors
Tape
Paper and pencil

My Mathematical Goals for the Lesson:
· Introduce three-dimensional shapes to the students
· Familiarize students with the names and characteristics of triangular pyramids and prisms and make sure they can differentiate between them.
· Familiarize students with vertices, faces, and edges, and make sure they can differentiate between them.

Related NC Standard Course of Study Goals/Objectives

                                              3rd grade
2.04 Recognize a three-dimensional object from
                                different perspectives
                                              4th grade
2.02 Use manipulatives, pictorial representations, and
                                appropriate vocabulary (e.g. sides, angles, and vertices)
                                to identify properties of plane figures; identify in the
                                environment.

2.03 Use manipulatives, pictorial representations, and
                                appropriate vocabulary (e.g. faces, edges, and vertices)
                                to identify properties of polyhedra (solid figures);
                                identify in the environment.

                                              5th grade
2.03 Use concrete and pictorial representations and
                                appropriate vocabulary to compare and classify
                                polygons and polyhedra; create models of polyhedra
                                (cubes, cylinders, cones prisms, and pyramids.)

Launch:
I want you to get out a sheet of paper and with the person sitting across from you, write down all of the three dimensional shapes that you can think of, and see if you can find some things in this room that are three dimensional shapes.  Before you begin, raise your hands and tell me about how many three-dimensional shapes you think there are.

Explore:
Have each pair of students read their lists out loud, and in the process address the issue of three dimensional versus two-dimensional shapes as it comes up.

Pass out the packets of shapes to cut out.  Explain that the two kinds of shapes they will be working with today are triangular pyramids and prisms.  Then have the students construct the shapes in the packet by cutting them out and taping them together.  After they have finished, ask them to notice what similarities and differences they notice between the objects.  The teacher may even want to use a Venn diagram or a classification chart to help them think this through.

After the students have an understanding of the difference between triangular pyramids and prisms, have them choose one shape to construct from toothpicks and gumdrops.  As they are constructing, introduce the terms vertex (the gumdrops), edge (the toothpicks), and face (the clear space on each side).  They may work in partners or small groups, but each student should make their own shape.

Summarize:
When the students are finished constructing the shapes from toothpicks and gumdrops, ask them to tell the class what shape they made, and to tell them how many faces, edges, and vertices it has.

Ask the students if they are confused about anything they have learned today, and if so start a discussion about it.

Ask questions such as:
Where have you seen these particular shapes in the world before?
Did anyone find one of them in the classroom when you made your list?
Did anyone have prism or pyramid on their list?
If so, where did you hear those words before?
Do all pyramids and prisms look the same? Why or why not?
What other three-dimensional shapes do you think we could make with toothpicks and gumdrops?
Do you think there are any shapes that we could cut our and tape together that we couldn’t make from gumdrops and toothpicks?
After doing this activity, has your prediction of how many three-dimensional shapes that there can be changed at all? If so, how?

Assessment/Evidence of Learning
While students are working I will look for:
· The different strategies for constructing their shapes.
· The different ideas students have about three-dimensional shapes and how many there might be.
· Patterns and/or connections students make while constructing.

During the discussion I will listen for:

· Students’ comments about what they discovered.
· How their predictions changed or did not change about the number of three-dimensional shapes that there might be.
· The ability to support thinking by making an argument using their ideas.
· Students’ elaboration about things they have done in the past that relate to this activity.

Ticket out the Door

Choose one item from your list of three-dimensional objects that you saw in the classroom and in your math journals, tell me how you think you could go about constructing that same shape. It’s okay if you don’t know exactly what to call that shape.  What you need to tell me is what materials you would use, and how many faces, vertices, and edges you think it would have.