Being curious - Primary geometry

In this town, houses are built with one room for each person. There are some families of seven people living in the town. In how many different ways can they build their houses?

Can you sort these triangles into three different families and explain how you did it?

Can you create symmetrical designs by cutting a square into strips?

This activity focuses on similarities and differences between shapes.

Shapes are added to other shapes. Can you see what is happening? What is the rule?

What patterns can you make with a set of dominoes?

Here is a selection of different shapes. Can you work out which ones are triangles, and why?

Vincent and Tara are making triangles with the class construction set. They have a pile of strips of different lengths. How many different triangles can they make?

Explore ways of colouring this set of triangles. Can you make symmetrical patterns?

In this activity, shapes can be arranged by changing either the colour or the shape each time. Can you find a way to do it?

A hundred square has been printed on both sides of a piece of paper. What is on the back of 100? 58? 23? 19?

These caterpillars have 16 parts. What different shapes do they make if each part lies in the small squares of a 4 by 4 square?

Can you design your own version of the Olympic rings, using interlocking squares instead of circles?

Here are shadows of some 3D shapes. What shapes could have made them?

What is the greatest number of squares you can make by overlapping three squares?

What is the greatest number of counters you can place on the grid below without four of them lying at the corners of a square?

How would you move the bands on the pegboard to alter these shapes?

How many different triangles can you make on a circular pegboard that has nine pegs?

Can you find a reliable strategy for choosing coordinates that will locate the treasure in the minimum number of guesses?

Make new patterns from simple turning instructions. You can have a go using pencil and paper or with a floor robot.

Can you sketch triangles that fit in the cells in this grid? Which ones are impossible? How do you know?

Investigate the different shaped bracelets you could make from 18 different spherical beads. How do they compare if you use 24 beads?

Sally and Ben were drawing shapes in chalk on the school playground. Can you work out what shapes each of them drew using the clues?

What does the overlap of these two shapes look like? Try picturing it in your head and then use some cut-out shapes to test your prediction.

What shape is the overlap when you slide one of these shapes half way across another? Can you picture it in your head? Use the interactivity to check your visualisation.

On the graph there are 28 marked points. These points all mark the vertices (corners) of eight hidden squares. Can you find the eight hidden squares?

What can you see? What do you notice? What questions can you ask?

Can you dissect an equilateral triangle into 6 smaller ones? What number of smaller equilateral triangles is it NOT possible to dissect a larger equilateral triangle into?

These points all mark the vertices (corners) of ten hidden squares. Can you find the 10 hidden squares?

This task looks at the different turns involved in different Olympic sports as a way of exploring the mathematics of turns and angles.

Can you make a spiral for yourself? Explore some different ways to create your own spiral pattern and explore differences between different spirals.