Math K - 7 IRP Shape and Space (3-D Objects and 2-D Shapes)

Students describe the characteristics of three-dimensional (3-D) objects and two-dimensional (2-D) shapes and analyse the relationships among them.

It is expected that students will:

Grades K to 1 Grades 2 to 3 Grade 4
Explore, sort, and classify real-world and three-dimensional objects according to their properties

Describe, classify, construct, and relate three-dimensional objects and two-dimensional shapes using common language to describe their properties

Describe, classify, construct, and relate three-dimensional objects and two-dimensional shapes, using mathematical vocabulary to describe their properties



  • explore and describe real-world and three-dimensional objects using descriptive attributes such as big, little, like a box, and like a can

  • explore, identify, and classify three-dimensional objects in the environment according to their properties

  • construct three-dimensional objects using materials such as plasticine, blocks, and boxes

  • identify and describe specific two-dimensional shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, or rectangles

  • construct and rearrange a design using a set of two-dimensional shapes

  • compare, sort, classify, and pattern two-dimensional shapes


  • compare, contrast, sort, and classify two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects using two or more attributes

  • identify, count, and describe the faces, vertices, edges, sides, and angles of polygons and solids

  • describe and name three-dimensional objects (cubes, spheres, cones, cylinders, pyramids, and prisms) and use appropriate two-dimensional names to describe their faces

  • describe and name pyramids and prisms by the shape of the base

  • construct skeletons of a three-dimensional object from a model and relate the skeletons (nets) to models

  • demonstrate through dismantling that a rectangular solid has more than one net

  • make identical, congruent two-dimensional shapes

  • construct and rearrange a design using a set of two-dimensional shapes

  • recognize congruent three-dimensional objects and two-dimensional shapes in the environment

  • explore the concepts of points, lines, perpendicular lines, parallel lines, and intersecting lines on three-dimensional objects


  • design and construct nets for pyramids and prisms

  • relate nets to three-dimensional objects

  • compare and contrast pyramids and prisms to describe a relationship

  • identify and sort specific quadrilaterals, such as squares, rectangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids

  • classify angles in a variety of orientations according to whether they are a right angle, less than a right angle, or greater than a right angle

  • recognize, draw, and name the following: point, line, parallel lines, and intersecting lines


It is expected that students will:

Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7
Use the visualization of two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects to solve problems related to spatial relation Use visualization and symmetry to solve problems involving classification and sketching

Link angle measurements to the properties of parallel lines



  • construct, analyse, and classify triangles according to their side measurements

  • build, represent, and describe geometric objects and shapes

  • classify and name polygons according to the number of their sides (3, 4, 5, 6, 8)

  • cover two-dimensional shapes with a set of tangram pieces

  • complete the drawing of a three-dimensional object on grid paper given the front face

  • determine experimentally the minimum information needed to draw or identify a given two-dimensional shape


  • classify triangles according to the measurement of their angles

  • sort quadrilaterals and regular polygons according to the number of lines of symmetry

  • recognize and describe optical illusions

  • reproduce a given geometric drawing on grid paper

  • sketch three-dimensional solids and skeletons with or without grids


  • measure and classify pairs of angles, complementary angles (90ƒ), or supplementary angles (180ƒ)

  • identify and name pairs of angles pertaining to parallel lines and transversals, including:
    • corresponding angles
    • vertically opposite angles
    • interior angles on the same side of the transversal
    • exterior angles on the same side of the transversal
    • interior alternate angles


  • describe the relationships between the pairs of angles pertaining to parallel lines and transversals

  • use mathematical reasoning to determine the measures of angles in a diagram

  • perform calculations with angle measures

  • construct angle bisectors and perpendicular bisectors

  • explain in more than one way why the sum of the measures of the angles of a triangle is 180ƒ

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Maintained by: Mathematics Coordinator

Revised: October 20, 1997

  BC Ministry of Education