Investigating Geometric Shapes

Name

Geometric shapes are found everywhere. We are going to be investigating the properties of shapes and learning how to classify them. We first want to get the proper terminology. The shapes that we will start with are the flat shapes. They are flat because they only have two dimensions. Shapes that are flat and have at least 3 sides are also called ____________________. These shapes also have to be closed. Examples:

When trying to classify shapes we must look at the different elements that create shapes and how shapes can be different. To be able to classify shapes we look at the following attributes. 1.

_____________________________________

2. _____________________________________ 3. _____________________________________ 4. _____________________________________

Sides
One of the easiest ways to classify shapes is by counting the number of sides. A side of a shape must be a straight line. For now if a shape has a curved line it is not considered a side. Remember a polygon has to have more than 2 sides. Challenge: Try drawing a closed shape with two sides.

The number of sides that a shape has determines the name of the shape. Fill out the chart and for regular polygons Name Shape Number of sides 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Angles
When two sides meet they create ____________________ and ____________________. The angle is the ___________________________________________________________. To measure an angle you will need to use a protractor. To be able to classify shapes we must be able to identify and classify angles. Different angles can make shapes totally different. Try drawing a four sided figure below and next to it draw another four sided figure with different angles.

These are two different quadrilaterals. Polygons that have all sides equal and all angles equal are called ________________ , and polygons that dont are called ________________. A regular quadrilateral is called a ___________. Draw and Label two examples of each in the space below.

So, angles can also be classified based on the size of the angle. There are 5 different types of angles.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________

Draw examples of each below.

The number of sides a polygon also tells us the number of angles it has. If you measured each of the 3 angles in a triangle and add them up it will always come out to 180o. Try to do the same for other shapes and see if it works.

Name of Shape

Number of sides 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Number of Angles

Total of Angles

Challenge: Try to see if you can find a formula to calculate the number of degrees in any regular polygon!!

Lines of Symmetry
Lines of symmetry help us gather more information about polygons. They help us figure out whether some polygons are regular or irregular. Lines of symmetry are imaginary lines that __________________________________________________________________________. Think about folding this piece of paper in half. The line you create by folding the paper is the line of symmetry. Shape Lines of Symmetry Number of sides 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Parallel Lines
We should also be able to notice parallel lines when we are looking at shapes. Parallel Lines are _______________________________________________________________________. They help us determine regular shapes and help classify different quadrilaterals. Remember that quadrilaterals have 4 sides.

Quadrilateral Square Rectangle Parallelogram Rhombus Trapezoid Isosceles Trapezoid Kite

Number of Parallel Lines

Example

Triangles
Triangles can be classified by using either sides or angles or both. Sides To classify by sides we have measure the length of each side of the triangle. All sides have an equal length Two sides have an equal length No sides with an equal length

Angles To classify by angles we must recognize the angles in the triangle All angles in the triangle are less than 90 degrees One angle measured at 90 degrees One angle is measured over 90 degrees

Draw and label each of the triangles from above

Quadrilaterals
Quadrilateral Square Characteristics Example

Rectangle

Parallelogram

Rhombus

Trapezoid

Isosceles Trapezoid

Kite