What Do Kids Learn About 2D Shapes in Elementary School?

Your kid will spend elementary/primary school learning about 2D shapes. Here is all you need to know to assist your child in this learning process. We go through the two-dimensional shapes that children in each grade level need to be adept with, beginning with the more common shapes like squares and triangles and moving on to the less common ones like polygons. In addition to this, we investigate the properties of 2D shapes that children need to identify.

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2d shapes

What are 2D Shapes???

Two-dimensional shapes (2D) include any figures that can be drawn on a plane and can be shown on paper or another flat surface. These shapes are lengthy and extensive, yet they do not have a significant amount of breadth or thickness. Because circles lack both length and breadth, a radius may be used to describe them instead. This is because a radius is a distance that separates a shape’s center from its boundary. Circular figures, like all other two-dimensional figures, do not have a consistent thickness.

Illustrations of 2D forms are the plates, cards, sheets, clocks, and windows that we see on a daily basis. 

2D vs 3D Shapes

Two-dimensional (also known as 2D shape) and three-dimensional (also known as 3D shape) forms are the most common types to be discovered on Earth. The acronyms “2D” and “3D” stand, respectively, for “two dimensions” and “three dimensions.” A dimension is a spatial region in which just a small number of coordinates are required to represent the position of each point on an object. 

Dimensions may be either two-dimensional or three-dimensional. A line may be described in just one dimension since each of the points that make up a line can be represented by a single coordinate.

Objects that are flat and can be represented on a plane are said to have the dimension of two dimensions. This is due to the fact that in order to specify the location of each point inside the object, two coordinates need to be used.

One may say that an object has three dimensions if it has points whose positions can be identified by using three coordinates.

2D Shapes in A Coordinate System

It is possible to utilize the Coordinate system to represent any kind of two-dimensional geometry. Coordinate systems are characterized by the number of lines used. On a number line, the point in the middle is denoted as “zero,” and on each side of zero are values that continue to increase until they reach “infinity.” The difference between the two sides may be seen in the sign, which displays positive numbers on one side and negative numbers on the other.

In the cartesian coordinate system for the plane, the x-axis and the y-axis are two number lines that run perpendicular to one another. The midpoint of both number lines intersects to produce a common zero at the place where the two number lines meet. The position of each point on a plane may be calculated using two numbers, one of which corresponds with the plane’s x-axis, and the other of which correlates with the plane’s y-axis. The pair of numbers that together define a point is referred to as that point’s coordinates.

Types of 2D Shapes

2d shapesCurved Shapes

Circle

A circle is a straightforward closed curve in two dimensions that is drawn in such a manner that all of its points are equal in distance from the center. The radius of this set distance is used (R). Diameter (D), which is equal to twice the radius, is the line that passes through the center and touches the two opposing points on the surface. There are 360 degrees in the ‘O’-shaped circle’s circumference.

Ellipse

A 2D planar form called an ellipse is a circular shape with two outward bulges that resemble an oval. An ellipse, in contrast to a radius, lacks both a radius and a defined distance between the points on its surface and its center. The minor axis, which runs through the flattened side, and the main axis are two perpendicular axes (passing through the bulged sides). On the axis that runs through the protruded sides, it has two focus points.

Polygons

Polygons are closed planar figures with more sides than two. The fundamental shapes of polygons include triangles (which have three sides), quadrilaterals (which have four sides), pentagons (which have five sides), hexagons (which have six sides), heptagons (which have seven sides), octagons (which have eight sides), etc. Nearly all other 2D forms, with the exception of circles, eclipses, and other related shapes, are classified as polygons.

A polygon is a closed figure made up of a limited number of line segments that are joined to one another edge to edge. Polygons are a basic component of geometry. It has vertices, angles, corners, edges, and all of the above.

Triangle (3 sides) 

A polygon with three sides is a triangle. It is a two-dimensional, flat-surfaced form that may be sketched on paper. Three sides, three vertices, and three angles make up a triangle. To put it another way, a triangle is the simplest polygon. The triangle’s most fundamental property is that the sum of its internal angles is always 180 degrees.

Quadrilateral

A quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon with four vertices and four angles according to plane geometry. Quadrilaterals come in a variety of shapes, including square, rectangle, parallelogram, trapezoid, rhombus, and kite. Here, we’ll talk about the two fundamental geometries, the square, and the rectangle.

Square

A four-sided polygon with four equal sides and angles, the square. Additionally parallel to one another are the opposing sides, and a 90-degree angle always separates two neighboring (near) sides. The distance between two diagonals, also known as alternative angles, bisects them at a 90° angle.

Rectangle

Although a rectangle has four sides, the lengths of the sides are not equal. A rectangle’s two opposing sides have the same length. A rectangle’s angles are all 90°, much like a square.

Pentagon (5 sides)

The pentagon is a five-sided polygon. A pentagon’s sides may or may not have the same length. Regular pentagons are those with equal sides, while irregular pentagons are those with uneven sides. A standard pentagon has an internal angle of 108 degrees.

Hexagon (6 sides)

Six vertices, six angles, and six sides make up a hexagon. Hexagons come in two varieties: regular and irregular. It is a two-dimensional form, and the x-axis and y-axis serve as its two coordinates. Each angle in a normal hexagon measures 120 degrees.

Heptagon (7 sides)

A heptagon is a polygon with seven sides, seven vertices, and seven angles. Interior angles in a standard heptagon are 12847 degrees apiece.

Octagon (8 sides)

The word “octagon” refers to an eight-sided polygon. It is a two-dimensional form with eight vertices and eight angles, giving it an angle of 135 degrees like a conventional octagon.

Calculating the Area and the Perimeter of 2D Shapes

The region that is covered by a two-dimensional shape on a plane is referred to as its area. The following is a list of the areas corresponding to various shapes:

2d Shape

Area

Perimeter

Circle

πr2 (R is the radius of the circle)

2πr

Triangle

½ (Base x height)

Sum of three sides

Square

Side2

4(Side)

Rectangle

Length x Breadth

2(Length + Breadth)

Rhombus

½ (Product of diagonals)

4(Side)

Parallelogram

Base x Height

2 (Base + Side)

More details on >> How to Find the Area of a Circle? [4 Methods]

What Do Kids Learn About 2D Shapes in Elementary School?

In KS1 and KS2, geometry is covered in every year group. The following is what the National Curriculum calls for teaching about 2D shapes:

1st-grade students 

  • Know and identify typical 2-D and 3-D forms, such as 2-D rectangles (including squares), circles, and triangles, and 3-D cuboids (including cubes), pyramids, and spheres.
  • Non-legislative advice: Students can manipulate common 2-D and 3-D forms while fluently identifying them and related daily items. Rectangles, triangles, cuboids, and pyramids are among the forms they can identify in various sizes and orientations, and they are aware that they are not necessarily comparable to one another.

2nd-grade students 

  • Recognize and list the characteristics of 3-D forms, such as the number of faces, vertices, and edges.
  • Recognize 2-D forms that are present on the outside of 3-D objects, such as a circle on a cylinder or a triangle on a pyramid.
  • Common 2-D and 3-D forms and ordinary items are compared and sorted.
  • Non-legislative advice: Students manipulate and name a broad range of typical 2-D and 3-D forms, such as cuboids, prisms, cones, and polygons, as well as their characteristics (for example, number of sides, and number of faces). Students recognize, contrast, and organize forms according to their characteristics while using precise languages such as sides, edges, vertices, and faces.

Above is all the information associated with 2D shapes. We hope that this article can be beneficial for your kids in their math work or for yourself for the purpose of educating your children. If you are planning to teach your kids about this essential topic, you can make your own collections of 2D shape worksheets using our worksheet maker