2nd grade · Math · Unit 5 of 16
Shapes
Sides, corners and faces
What your child practices
Describing shapes by their sides, corners (vertices) and faces, and spotting 3D shapes in real life.
Alaska content standards learning standard: 2.G.1 · recognizing and drawing shapes with given attributes
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- 2D shapes are flat. 3D shapes take up space.
- Faces are the flat sides of a 3D shape.
- Edges are where faces meet. Vertices are corners.
Example: How many flat faces does a cube have? A cube is like a dice. It has a face on each side: 6. Answer: 6
Shapes in Alaska
In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 5 of 16 in 2nd grade Math, after Measuring and before Graphs.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which shape has 4 sides and 4 corners?
- hexagon
- triangle
- rectangle
rectangle
Hint: Count the sides and corners. Only the rectangle has 4 of each here.
Question 2
Which one is a hexagon?
- hexagon
- circle
- rectangle
hexagon
Hint: A hexagon has 6 sides.
Question 3
How many sides does this shape have?
- 6
- 4
- 5
4
Hint: Touch each straight side and count. A square has 4 sides.
Question 4
How many corners (vertices) does this shape have?
- 5
- 4
- 3
5
Hint: A corner is where two sides meet. A pentagon has 5 corners.
Question 5
A party hat is shaped like a…
🎉- cone
- cylinder
- cube
cone
Hint: Think about the faces. Is it round all over, or does it have flat faces?
Question 6
How many sides does this shape have?
- 3
- 6
- 7
3
Hint: Touch each straight side and count. A triangle has 3 sides.