Class 3 Mathematicians

Class 3 Mathematicians

“Who can remind me of what a polygon is?” asked Head Teacher Jenna Foti, commencing the start of a math workshop. As the Class 3 students pulled out their math workbooks and turned to unit 3, one student described a polygon as being a closed shape with three or more straight sides that meet to form different angles.

In the middle of their tables sat a variety of shapes labeled A-L. Ms. Foti asked the students to move all of the shapes that all have four right angles—which students knew means 90 degrees—into a pile. Using index cards for assistance, the girls worked on finding shapes with a “perfect corner.”

“It’s important to double check,” Ms. Foti advised, “because sometimes it can be so close that it looks like a right angle but isn’t, actually.”

Once the students determined which shapes had four right angles, they were asked to find which of those also had four equal sides. “Why would we not include rectangles?” asked Ms. Foti.

“Because two of the parallel lines are longer than the others,” one student replied, adding that shapes C and F were the correct options.

Next, the students learned about a new type of polygon: a quadrilateral. This kind of shape, they discovered, has four sides and four angles. “The root of the word is quad, which means four,” Ms. Foti noted.

Their next task was to separate the quadrilaterals into a pile, but the girls quickly discovered that all of the shapes on their tables fell into that category. “Good job! Not all polygons are quadrilaterals,” Ms. Foti explained, “but each one we’ve provided for you is!” The mathematicians continued to organize shapes by their attributes, learning the difference between squares, rhombuses and more.

The students then had a chance to sketch different polygons. “I’d like you to draw one that has two sets of parallel sides,” Ms. Foti instructed. “Now, draw diagonal lines across…what new shape did you make?”

“A triangle!”

Alas, class was over but next on the docket for these eager third graders are triangles (and many other polygons – decagons, hexagons and octagons, for example) as they delve deeper into their geometry unit.