--rL-\,-:\ J [iI 3 fo, f-n

'9;

to-make
prolects
for fun
maths
games
.INATEil fo, f-r,

Ez<frlorBrilg
Shq5r@s
Andrew King

a-
-ri-
S. CHAND PUBLISHING
orS. Chand & Company Ltd.)
(A Division
tso s001 :2oo0 company)
(An
Ram Naga., New Delhi- 110 O55
 COl\]'TEI\I''IS
SQUARES AND RECTANGLES 6

TESSELLATIONS A

TIIE THIRD DIMENSION 1()

TRTANGLES lE
MOR.E TRTANGLES 14

PYRAMIDS 16
t
CIRCLES IA

STRETCIIING CIRCLES AO
CEIIIRES, SECTONS AND CONES

POLYGONS E4

TANGRAMS A6
POLYHEDRA AA
COIIIMON SIIAPES 30

GLOSSARY 51
INDEX 3A
I}]ITRODUCTION
: rl can see interestin€l shapes everywhere. Architects use shapes
:: build houses, bridEles and machines. Artists make
:::razirg patterns with shapes. You can make beautjful
r:ssellating patterns and fascinatinEi puzzles
a,nd games when you tearn
about two- and tl]Iee
dimensional shaI)es.

t Try out the amazing activities, fun €lames and

practical p"ojects in this book and you can
have fim learniD€l about shapes.

a Fo]low the srrp,By-srEp nlsrBucrror!.s to help you

with the activities.

aus6 the lEl,pr.o1, Irrr,Ts for ctues about lhe

o.periments and games.

alook ai Moru DrAs for tformation

e.bout othe! p?ojects.

l l Yeilow souaxes mean thrs rs

ll u"
"."y
iot,",ty.

Blue sqw,rcs mean this is

a m€dium activity-

Pid< sqwres mean this is

a hald activity. You'l]
have to think er.tra hardl
 SQUARES AND RECTANGLES
t3 Whai you know about squares? They
alo
have four corners and four sides, but
, alo you know whai is special about
them? The sides are al1 the same
length and the an€l1es ai ihe corners are a1l the
same. Rectan€lles' corners are all the same a'n€l1e
and thef opposiie sides are the same leng$h

THE BLACK IiOI,E

r Tuo pla,yers mu6t iry ho
.Il cover a piece of paper o'rrh
rectangles, without faling down
the black holel You need Paper.
colored Pencils and a ruler'
i6 To make the
e $rd for the
game, fold a Piece of
paper in tulf ]ength_
ways as shown ln the
plctule. Repeat thls
three morc times

a UnJold the PaPer and

do the same, folding
from top to bottom.

tt UnJold ihe Paper and draw

!a hneE atons the folds Lo 1
make youl g d. Choose any
square and alraw th€ black hole
ffiiffiffi*}"i)fi*'r*#*
EEE! ;; ;;;.rloor' rhe iiles are often square shs'ped
because they fiitoEleiher eas y'-..
leaving no gaps When a
fits
shape TESSELIATING TrLES
* *.o"
shape iliJ" "o"r""t
"""resseraiing
iogether like this we say the ;;restinc Bha.pes'_
t'hick
tes6ellates- You w1l1 nee'I 6ome paper'
tape'
cardboard. a compas6'
cotored
scissorE, a, pencjl' and

aboui 2 in.

m::l$;"
square fid move

opposite side of the

wlt,h some tape flace Your

arcund il ligbtly
 Pick up the tUe and ptace it
so it iits in with the firsti IIELPX'UL I{INTS
::: rne. There shoutdn,t be any a You can make a square
::!sr Keep rcpeaiing this with a compass. Open th€
:r:oss the page unrit ii is aboui e uI apart ptaxe
C rne
.alms
point at the corner 01 ttc
page (A) and make
a mark
with rhe compass along rhe two
ed€les of the paper (a
and
C). Place lhe compass point
on B and mark En

alcs cr1osB mark D.

Use the ruter ro jojn
A, B, C and D and cut

MOAX IDIAS
a Try ma]{rng

part of ihe square.

a Make sure you move rhe paxi
you have cut to tine up
exactly on
the oppostte side of the
 THE THIRD DIMENSION
Shapes that are flat, tike squares and rectan€iles
have two atimer8ions, len€Ih and width. TlEee
dimensional shapes, like cereal boxes and cans,
also have height. Some boxes can be opened oui
anal flattened. When this is done you car}
6ee the two_dimensional shapes, called
faces, it is made from. The flat unJolded
shape is the net of the box.

FISIIING NITS
Ejnd a die. How mr-ny faces
does it have? V\rhat shape
are they? There are six
squa,re faces. are ca,ll this shape a
r
cub6. you could unfold ihe cube to
neke a net what would it look like?

these will b€ lhe si1

cub€. Draw a, fisbing
on eeh of the faces. on the plain sides and tIY
iolding ihe net into a cube. Does it
Amange the squales with work? If it does. ufold it again
otre or morc of their 6ides
together to ms,lie a net for a cube.
If youl net werc folded, would it
I HELPIT]L HIIVTS
aA quck way of making
=::".*lffi',ff: a la,Ige square is to ta&e
ths comer of a piece of
thin cardboard a,nd bend it
over until it rcaches ihe
opposite side like this.
a Me,ke a fr.rk where it
meets the edge i,hen iold ihe smau
Piece owel so that a stlaight line is

.. .,,9
MORX IDEAS
a DIaw some nets that you know can
be folded to make a cube. Nolr dlaw
some nets that you knolY iYill not

A a chalenge your frienG to frgue oui

just by lookin€ at
nets whether they

I ff;:":T,]JJ.L,
cEke a cube. Hoff many
 TRIANGLES
I'm sure you know what a triangle is
but you know how amazing they
alid
areL? You caI} use them io
make ma,nJr shapes with any
number of strai€Ft sides. Take
these triangles for a "walk" a,nd
see what shapes You car} maLol

WA]I(ING TRIA]IOLES

E Hi"H"TXt::::i'"',
it out
cadboad. Cut
carefu[v. Mark one of
the colnels wiib a marker
on the front a]}d back.

!E t",uogr" on,
pi6ce of paper. Ttle
marked corner staYs

// ever mowe frcm that

spot. Dra,w around

a hiangle keepjng the

marked pojnt fixed and the
edge of lhe outtn€ touchjng
the cardboad like thie. Draw
around the t anAle again.
 Keep rcpeaiing
HELPT'UL

I trturleies you have

dra&'r arc about to
HIIVIS
a When you tua.le
a;round your trianglei
overlap. DIaw around
do it lightiy aIrd quickly

t
with a pencil. If you
shape with a mler
make a mista,t<e ii is
and co10r in the
easy io erase it later.
i?iangles carclulty
Remember, you uTiI] be
going over the ljnes
later with markers and
a
MORE DE,A,S
a Don't stop
drawing the

Keep walking
ihe bis,n€le! What happens to the
sha,pe that you make? Go on,
der
 MORE TRIANGLES
Did you know there are different
tJrpes of triangles?

An isosceles tdangle
has two sides of equal
1en€Fh the marks
show that sides
are equal A1l the sides of
an equilateral
tdangle are the
same len€lth.

A right-angled
triangle has
one co?ne,
that looks like A scalene
irhe corner of triangle has
a square. no equal sides.

TROTTOI

E H:JT":.*:;H:iTJT;
Ilnd a die and

make 12 cartls. On earh cald alraw with blaDl< siickels.

a td.ngre, m8,ke strre you dlaw Writ€ "miss tum" twice,
three of each type. Draw jn the "scaiene". "isosceles",
marks on ihe equUateral, isosceles. "equilatelaL', 'right-
a.nd right an€16d tda,n€res. srgled' on the faces.
 Itsl cn.lt tne caltls. Place them HELPFT]L HIIITS
E Er€ noor fsre uP. Take a Xquilateral trie,ngle: Draw
rD Ellrw ibe die. If it a, line and open the
: :i :i Lour tnangles bum compa.6s to the bnglh of the
. r r::-1s the die to the
compass point on one end
of the }lr1e a,nd allaw an
arc. Pnt the Pojnt on lhe
other end of the line a-IId
al?aw another arc. Draw a
ltne from '$7here ttre
two arcs cIoss to each

a lsoBceles tri8ngle:
D"aw a shor! 1ine.
Open the compass so i!
longer th3n the lin€. DIaw
Luo arcs a6 you dd above. Drau a
line frcm where the alcs crcss to
each end oi lhe rin€.
a Right-sfldled:
Make a r€hL angle
- mea,Eurer by folding any
siz6d scrap of cadboard
muehly jn half. Fold it agai,l
so the folded edge meets itBelf neatlv-
DIaw along the shaight edges of
you measurer then jojn ihe
ends of the line with a r1rler.
a Scalene: EasYL Jusl
^r]--z dIaw a ldan€le with no
firsi playe!
* g PYFAMIDS
a A tetra,lrcdron might sound like an alien froro
ouier space, but it's notl It ls a three_
dioensional shape, a pjrlamid with four faces'
rltrhat makes a ietrahedron special is ihat all
four faces are trian€lles It is also called a
trian€lular based pyra,nid. You have
probably seen other pyrarnid shapes,
like those in EE5rPt Square_based
pyramids have three trian€lrltar faces
and one square face.
P\'BAMID
SKELETONS!

the pyra"aid
skeleton cha[enge?

If you feel brave enough

you wIl need some straws,
scissors. snd modeling clav.

t*:msK-.ffi
lhe xaodetnA clav. VyttNo""' "2r'
\\ l-E-"\6@
I lilw
::e
stick a straw h each of
rhree corners and bend
them over utit they
HEtPx.rr-
HINTS
io Deasure each 6Lraw
wiih a ruter to get the same tengtn.
modeling c1ay.
A quick way of dojng it is to cut one
to the len€Sh you wa.ni rhen use
that stla r as a measure against the

You have made the skeleton of

t* {i
a tetlah€&on. Can you Eake
th6 skgleton of a squarc-based
pyramid wth ei€ht sbaws?

MORE IDEAS
aTry makin€ star
-- a,
skeleron. ].ou wiu nee.t
66 straws of the same
lenEth. Don.r maj.e the
stmws too long othe?wise the
sksleton might become weak.

5)
Ma.ke a cube fiom te of the strawB.
a On each of rhe faces
make a pvramtd wth
iou more stlaws.
In no time you wUl
 CIRCLES
Trace around a
plaie on some
Daper and cut
it out. You can find the
center of the circle bY foldinEi
it in halJ twice. The center is
where the folds meet. Draw a
llne along the fold thai crosses
the cenier of a cfcIe. This line is
catleal the atialrieter. The lenglh of
the circle's edge is
cal1ed the
cincurnlernelce.

rTB AWING DAISIES

>sh ! I;JJ,ll,Hr""
a. ilT ], ;::':"i,1; .1'",1': "'
?i\f shapes by drawing
compass but don't move
rhe alTAsl ?lace the Point
cilclesl aI You need
E a compass, paper,
markers, and Pencils. circumference and
draw another cimle.

^b of the compass on on€

aBlril:",i::J where the two circles
mee,t a-nd al?aw the
 HELPTUL
,tD€ e&le of two of
HII\]TS
lE circles meet llke
ttds- reep dft,wjng
have ro have a compass
to make these patterns. It is easy ro
make your own circle drawerl

),#-T'J aYou will neecl a piece of cadboad,

decorate your flower
-::-:.auliful cotors and
--r-:: : fabulous disptavl
scissors. a push pin, and a pencit.
Cut out a strip of cardboad. Make
a hole with ihe pin at each end of
the cardboad. Leave the pin in
the cadboard and push th€ pencil
through the other hote. Now you
can draw lois of circlesl

MORE IDEAS
aTry drawing differcnt
Iirst dmw a ctrcle then
place the point of the
compass on the edge
(0)
and dra.iy anotter
clrcle. Draw a ihrd
rvT\
tY circre where the rwo
meet. Now mark aU
ihe points on the edge ol the shape
where two circles meer and draw
thee morc crcles. Repear
this as many times
as you Uke. Do you
notice a resseuatjng
 STRETCHING CIRCLES
Shapes can be changed by making them bigger,
smaller, ard in mar\y other ways, too. One
interestin€l way of changin€l circles is to stretch them. I/rhen
a cfcle is stretched it becomes oval or an ellipse.

MA'(IIG FACES

I
face
It-llil:#:ff"
md mirorl lind
a an o1d

&';ru"m:"

3rld Lightly dra'lY a,E

possible. Cut out

Turn it upside dom and

Prrt lines ,drosa i,he .hcle from
one side of ths face to the other a,bout
sly or seven times like this. You could
make your cuts straieht or uiggly.
f : -- :j.: ::rjps iace up and pur them back inro
I :i: : :;crf strorch them out ]€aving rhe same
i ::--: :ach piece and ma.ke a ruDny facet gtick

HELPT'I]L HII]TS
a PiciureB frrom madazines arc
often on thin paper. Make your
pictue shonger by stickjng some
cardboard to the back. Now dm.w
the ciIc]e erd cur it out.

MOBS IDXAS
a Try stletching other
slEpes ltke a square o!
a, triangle or your own
made up speciat Eha.pes.
a You coutd tly a
driferenh rJ,"e oi srreich
A
* hke ihe one b-"low
 CEI\TIERS, SECTORS, AND CONES
1 R;" \ I When you draw a circle with a compass, ihe compass
\ / point is ihe center of the circle. The distance
-7 L.le ' Fntct ano tha edAe of a c:rcle is
If you draw a line f?om
called the raatiu,6.
the centre to the edge of the circte it will
\
always be the same length. If two lines are
dlawn it looks as though a wedge of cake *
has been cut. This wedge is called a sector.

HATS
a"""^;".
It is a 1ot of iun
desi$ing pariy />< l:::x:I-Y.
cardboard 'lvith your
your ha,ts you lTill compass. Now draw
need plenty of colored
cadboard, markers, anoihe? radius. You
could ma,ke the sector
compass, streamers, either 'lYide or ndrow.

I :-1J:'J:";I$IT:JI;
ihe edges of the ]rxder sector

I
 HELPT'I]L HII\]TS
a To help the hats stay on your
heads make a smaU hole on the
mslde of the hat on ea,ch
--{ side close to the ears.
a.-4 Thrcad some elasiic

\\

fmm supping

-si of au.

MONX IDEAS

1 a Experimeni

How does it change lhe shape of

a Cuiting our a 1arge sector wil1
hat morc pointed. If you cut out
hai will

aa
 POLYGONS
A polytlon is a flat two-
dimensional shape with three or
more straight sides. Some have
special names. A pentagon has
five sides. Hexagons have six
sides, Heptagons have seven
sides. octagons have
eight sides.

IETI,Y SIIAfES
r you don't know the names
of shapes, how well €n you

Thr€6 or morc plavers can

play loely Shapes. You ,!Vi11
need some caldboardi scissols,
Pencils, a nrler, paper afld a bs€
to hide the shapes you ma.ke.

{{ H"*u+*:
-x:;*t*l One of the pla6/ers Chooses a
inside the bag- They must
keep ii hidden and describe
can be al\y angle.

Now cut them out and

put, th€m in the bag. tookjnd at itl
 -i.: oiher players try 8rd HELPT'T]L HII\]ITS
::::.r ihe shape ihat is being a Wtth some pmrtice you ca-n become
::r::4. when the other Dlayem very good at describing polygons.
i :jished tnef sketches. take aTry to descdbe the mber of
sfaight sides. Do they feel long
of the bag.
aWhat do the cornem of the
shape feel Like? Are ihey

MOXX IDEAS
a Try pl3,ying the same game
agaln, but ihis time include
shapes with curved edges,

shapel
*

=:1e the best drawing of

3
 TANGFAMS
A tanEiram is an ancient Chinese shape
) puzzle, a little Iike a.jigsaw. Some
people Lnm,{ larvlfsns are abouL P,500 ypacs
oldl It is made up of five trian€lles, a
squace, and a p9ralleloElram, which i6
another four'sided shape.

CA'IS AND DRAGONS

To make the ianeFam shapes you
need a squarc of thln cardboardi
markeN, a ru]er, and a pair of scissors.

m Draw a end of 16
El4 cnrrareq nn r.he
cardboard rike this. Copy the
ta-Ilgra-m shapes from below
u
with a m.rker .nd nne"

Cut out the

a

Challenge your
r : r:: :':: lound Lhai easyl
: - r: t :: arran€e au
:- :::i :: nake a rectangte?
HELPFUL HII\ITS
aYou carl make the €fid
tan$al] by foldlng the
square piece of thin
caxdboard in hrlJ. Fold it
in hatf agajn in the
same dircction. unJold
the square and repear the
folding from rop to bonom.
YouI cardboald is now
ready for you to copy
the tmgram shapes.

MORE IDEAS
a WlUr not make up your ou.n
tan$am puzzle? Each puzzle musr
use all seven pieces.
a lirsi amange your pieces
carefuuy on some pape?. DIaw

1-- around the ouiline iighdy in pencil.

a Go over the ou ine agajn ustng a
ruler and a marker to make it
clear€r. Last of alt, give your
puzzle a name like .ithe dragonr
and chaltenge a friend ro malch the
tangram shapes to your puzzle.
Try maklng a cai
 POLYHEDFA
A polyheakon is a three-dimensional shape.
It can have any number of faces. A tetrahealron
has four trianAular faces aJld a cube has slx
square faces, How maqy faces do you ihinl an
octahealron has? That's right. eight facesl

BIIII,D ITI
If you look carcfuuy around your
home, you can find lots of different
sliapes: a box of cereal, a

paper roll, a ball,

Perhaps you have

buildillA blocks.

To p1a,y BuUd Itl you need two

,/
of each shape. Co]Iect about
five pails of identical shapes. r
you want to, you could pajnt them
al] the same colour, but check with

Now sit back-to back

with a friend. Bu d a
model with aU your shapes
but ma.he sure your friend
t r- desc be how your
HELPTT]L HII\]1IS
del !s builr as ctearly r
a It helps to describe rhe
position of each shape.

lYhen you have both

finished describjne
and building the model,
stand up and took at ho.m
well you both dldt Do rhe
of

z How else cal1 you help

MORE IDEAS
a Coltect some more thee dimensiona.l
shapes and ptay ihis fun memory ga.me.
Put a,lt the shapes on a table and let
your fxiends have a took. Now have
you? friends rurn away white you
rcmove one of the shapes. change the
position of rhe rcmaining she.pes rhen
shout "readyt,, :.our
friends now have
to try e]ld €iuess
which shape you ri
COMMON
SHAPES

2D SHAPES 3D SHAPES

Triartgle Cube

Cuboial
+ Pentagon
-

Ilexagon -..- Cone

Octagon + Gylinder

ParalleloEram Tetra.lredlron
 --rL-\;\ }J fo, f-n

Moths for Fun .xplores moths through interoctive prcjecis.

expeiments ond lnn gmes, ronqing from 1he simple ro rhe mo.c
cholle.ging. Filled wirh ideos for moking helplul rools, hinLs ond
tips ond even fu(her concepts to cxplorc.
Moths for Fu purs ihe fun bock inlo morlB I

In Explodng Shop€s Uou will discover monu interesrinq focts oboui rwG oDd
threealimensionol shopes. PldU feelg shopes ro leorn obour
pqluge!!. Use Uour re.tolqlldrowinq skills to qvoid t}le block hole or discover
how three dirneNionq! ltqpcs can help uou plog fishing nets.
Tirlcs i, tire series
Exploring Nurrrbors . Dlaacverlng P.rttern3
Gclllng the Fo.l5 . m.kang Fr6clicn5
Explcrlng Slr.lt'ca . Plcfting Poirits.trrd PoElIIcn
e.srrrlrrg l3azes . metsrrrirtg \lyeight .rnd fIlrr.

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(Adivision ol S. Chand & Company Ltd.)
(an rso 900r :2000 company)
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