Know that a rectangle is a four-sided polygon with four right angles

I can identify a rectangle as a four-sided polygon with four right angles.

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Year 3

Know that a rectangle is a four-sided polygon with four right angles

I can identify a rectangle as a four-sided polygon with four right angles.

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Share activities with pupils

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Lesson details

Key learning points

A polygon is a 2D shape made up of 3 or more sides.
A rectangle is a 4-sided polygon with 4 right angles.
A 4-sided shape with fewer than 4 right angles is not a rectangle.
A right angle is marked with a symbol inside the angle.

Keywords

Polygon - A polygon is a 2D shape made up of 3 or more straight sides.
Rectangle - A rectangle is a 2D shape with four straight sides and four right angles.

Common misconception

Pupils need to look at the interior angles in the shape. They may think that an interior angle of 270° is a right angle.

Explain to pupils that we need to measure the interior angles of a shape. Show them examples of this (e.g. an arrowhead) to illustrate.

In this lesson, pupils investigate 2D shapes and try to find right angles. Encourage pupils to check all of the angles, rotating shapes and using right-angle measurers, which can be hand made or even cut from the corner of a piece of paper.

Teacher tip

Equipment

Pupils may need access to the following resources: right angle measurers, mirrors, rulers and scissors.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).