2D and 3D shapes and angles: maths lessons by year

What's taught, year by year

The steps in 2d and 3d shapes and angles, in the order children usually meet them. Years are named as in Australia; the ages are a guide.

Shape hunt: find shapes around us. Notice and talk about round, pointy, flat and curved shapes in toys and the world.

Name 2D shapes: circle, triangle, square, rectangle. Name and sort common flat shapes by how they look.
Name 3D shapes: cube, sphere, cone, cylinder. Name common solid shapes and find them in everyday objects.
Flat or solid? 2D and 3D shapes. Sort shapes into flat (2D) and solid (3D).
Shapes in any size or position. Recognise a shape even when it is turned, bigger or smaller.
Build and draw shapes. Make shapes from sticks, clay or dots and draw them.
Join shapes to make new shapes. Put two or more shapes together to make a bigger shape or picture.

Count sides and corners of 2D shapes. Count the sides and corners to describe and compare flat shapes.
What makes a shape a triangle?. Tell defining features (three straight sides) from things that do not matter (colour, size).
Sort 3D objects: roll, stack or slide. Test which solids roll, stack or slide and explain why.

Polygons: pentagons, hexagons and octagons. Name polygons by their number of sides and corners.
Straight, curved, opposite and parallel sides. Describe shapes using straight, curved, opposite and parallel.
Faces, edges and vertices of 3D shapes. Count faces, edges and vertices to describe and compare solids.
Find 2D shapes on 3D shapes. Name the flat shapes that make the faces of a solid.

Regular and irregular polygons. Tell whether a polygon has all sides and angles equal.
Make 3D models and describe them. Build solids with straws, cubes or clay and describe their features and uses.
Angles as turns: spot right angles. See an angle as an amount of turn and find right angles in shapes and the room.
Bigger or smaller than a right angle?. Compare angles with a right-angle checker.
Horizontal, vertical, parallel and perpendicular lines. Find and draw lines that are horizontal, vertical, parallel or perpendicular.

Acute, right and obtuse angles. Sort angles as acute, right or obtuse.
Quadrilaterals: square, rectangle, rhombus and more. Sort four-sided shapes by their sides and angles.
Triangles: equilateral, isosceles, scalene, right-angled. Classify triangles by equal sides and by angles.
See 3D shapes in 2D drawings. Match a solid with its drawing and its views from front, side and top.
Add angles: find a missing part. Join angles together and find an unknown part when the total is known.

Straight, reflex and full-turn angles. Know that a straight angle is 180°, a full turn 360°, and recognise reflex angles.
Measure angles with a protractor. Use a protractor to measure angles in degrees.
Draw angles of a given size. Use a protractor to draw an angle of a set number of degrees.
Angles on a straight line and at a point. Use 180° on a line and 360° at a point to find missing angles.
Angles in a triangle add to 180°. Find a missing angle in a triangle using the angle sum.
Parallelograms, rhombuses and trapeziums. Describe special quadrilaterals by parallel sides, equal sides and angles.
Classify shapes in a family tree. Show that a square is also a rectangle and a rhombus, using a hierarchy of shapes.
Nets: match a net to its solid. Find which flat net folds up into a given 3D shape.
Prisms and pyramids: compare their features. Compare prisms and pyramids by their faces, edges and vertices.

Build solids from nets. Draw a net, cut and fold it to make a cube, prism or pyramid.
Cross-sections of prisms. Slice a prism parallel to its base and see the same shape each time.
Vertically opposite angles. Know that opposite angles where two lines cross are equal.
Missing angles in quadrilaterals and polygons. Use angle sums of quadrilaterals and other polygons to find unknown angles.
Parts of a circle: radius, diameter, circumference. Name the parts of a circle and know the diameter is twice the radius.
Draw shapes accurately from measurements. Draw 2D shapes with given side lengths and angles using a ruler and protractor.