We've explored both 2D and 3D shapes. We learned a lot of new information and vocabulary about 3D shapes. Ask your child about the faces and angles of shapes like cubes or rectangular prisms. We have a lot to say!
Currently, we are exploring rectangles. What, exactly, makes a rectangle a rectangle? We already knew it was a polygon, but why are some polygons called rectangles and other polygons not?
In our studies, we've learned that a rectangle is a shape that has 4 sides (which we now call a quadrilateral!) and has 4 right angles. We searched for quadrilaterals in our homes and found that most have right angles.
In our rectangle study we are also discovering how to figure out their size. What does it mean to say that rectangles are bigger or smaller than other rectangles? Is it how tall they are? How wide they are?
We mathematicians sure ask a lot of questions!
Yesterday we made different rectangles and recorded them on graph paper. We discovered that whether it was tall and skinny, short and fat, or somewhere in between, it always held the same number of tiles!
We now know that finding the space inside of the rectangle -- called the area -- is how we determine which rectangle is the biggest or smallest!
