Building Three-Dimensional (3D) Structures

The Exploratorium

In this activity, learners practice drawing 3D structures in two dimensions. Learners draw cube stacks from five different points of view. Use this activity to help learners discern between 2D and 3D as well as explore reflections and perspective. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org.]

Preparation Time:: 5 to 10 minutes
Learning Time:: 45 to 60 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:: 1 cent - $1 per student
Age Range:: Ages 11 - 14
Resource Type:: Activity
Language:: English

Materials List (per student)

Six cubes (any cubes, such as centimeter cubes, sugar cubes, Multilinks, etc.)
Centimeter Grid Paper (p.4)
Building Mat (p.5)
Paper
Pencil
Activity Cards showing cube structures (pp.6-8)

Keywords

Subjects

Life Sciences
- Human Senses and Perception
  - Perception
Mathematics
- Geometry
  - Plane Geometry
  - Solid Geometry
- Representation

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

see
touch

Learning styles supported:

Links STEM to other topics of interest such as arts and humanities
Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Includes alignment to state and/or national standards:

See page 10 of PDF

This resource is part of:

Geometry Playground: Activities and Links

Access Rights:

Free access

By:

Exploratorium

Rights:

Funding Sources:

National Science Foundation
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation