Roll Over
This is a Level 2 and Level 3 Geometry activity from the Figure It Out Series.
A PDF of the student activity is included.
Click on the image to enlarge it. Click again to close. Download PDF (178 KB)
identify face shapes on a threee dimensional shape
make a net for a cube.
Heavy paper
FIO, Level 2-3, Geometry, Roll Over, page 9
Scissors
Tape
Play dough or clay
Activity One
Sian’s method is a straightforward way of finding the net (flat pattern) from which a simple solid can be built. Students will need to ensure that every face is accounted for when rolling. Students may be intrigued that many different nets can be generated for the same solid, depending on the order in which the faces are traced.
For example, a rectangular prism can be made with these nets:
Students will notice that the box they open has tabs that are generally used to glue the net together. Packaging companies try to have the least possible number of tabs to keep their costs low. Conventionally, these tabs are located on every second side of the net, as shown in the diagram below:
Activity Two
The house in this activity has two pentagonal faces and five rectangular faces. Its net is shown below:
Answers to Activities
Activity One
1. Sian’s method does work.
2. Teacher or classmate to check
Activity Two
The faces of the house are rectangles and pentagons.