What shape and colour?
Can you fill in the empty boxes in the grid with the right shape and colour?
Problem
Have a look at the picture below.
What do you see?
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
For accessibility: A 4-by-4 grid with some shapes. On the top row there is a black square, a yellow star, a blue star and a red star. On the second row in the first column there is a white square. On the third row in the first column there is a white triangle and on the third column there is a blue triangle. On the fourth row in the first column there is a white circle and in the second column there is a yellow circle.
What would you draw in the empty boxes?
How could you extend the table so that it has more rows or more columns?
Getting Started
What can you say about all the shapes in a row?
What can you say about the colour of all the shapes in a column?
Student Solutions
This was a very well answered problem. Rebecca from Lexden Primary School tells us how the table should be filled in:
1st row: Yellow square, blue square, red square
2nd row: Yellow triangle, blue triangle, red triangle
3rd row: Yellow circle, blue circle, red circle
Isobel, who goes to Wheldrake with Thorganby CE (Aided) School, explains how to go about filling in the table:
The top horizontal line is the colour of the shape and the furthest left vertical line shows the shape.
The grid is filled in by selecting a colour and going down to a shape. On the column of that colour and the row of that shape, the shape is drawn and the shape is filled in with the colour.
Maya and Hannah sent us a great diagram of the solution:
Teachers' Resources
What Shape and Colour?
Have a look at the picture below.
What do you see?
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
What would you draw in the empty boxes?
How could you extend the table so that it has more rows or more columns?
Why do this problem?
Possible approach
Put up the image for all to see and ask the three opening questions:
- What do you see?
- What do you notice?
- What do you wonder?
Give learners chance to talk in pairs, and then bring everyone together to share thoughts, ideas and questions. Try to keep a record of 'wonderings' on the board to come back to later. Use the discussion to draw out the table structure so that children can see why there is a blue triangle in that particular cell, for example.
You may well find that the idea of drawing shapes into the empty cells comes up naturally, but if not, pose the question specifically. You could give out copies of this sheet, one for each pair, and invite them to complete the table.
Key questions
What shapes will go in this row? How do you know?
What colour shapes will go in this column? How do you know?
What might go in this box? How do you know?
Possible extension
A challenging extension to this problem would be the Teddy Town investigation.
Possible support
You may wish to provide pictures of the missing shapes for some children. This sheet has the grid on it with the missing shapes underneath, which children could cut out and place in the boxes.