3-Dimensional Shapes

Amy and Nelson have been learning about three-dimensional, or 3-D, shapes at school. 3-D shapes have length, width, and height. Unlike two-dimensional shapes, 3-D shapes take up space, and you can hold them.

The flat surfaces of 3-D shapes are called faces, the line where two faces connect are called edges, and the points where the edges connect are called vertices.

Amy and Nelson found 3-D shapes in their kitchen. Let’s help them identify each shape!

Nelson points to his glass of iced tea. He remarks, "This is an ice cube. It’s a 3-D shape called a cube." Cubes are made up of 6 faces, 12 edges, and 8 vertices. Notice that the faces and edges are all the same size. It’s like all of the faces are made up of squares!

Amy is enjoying a snack. She exclaims, "This box of crackers is a rectangular prism." It’s very similar to the cube, but instead of being made up of squares, its faces are made up of rectangles. Rectangular prisms have 6 faces, 12 edges, and 8 vertices. Its opposite faces are always the same size.

Nelson tells Amy, "This tea bag is a very interesting shape! It’s a triangular prism." It has 5 faces, 9 edges, and 6vertices. Look at the faces. 3 of the faces are rectangles, and 2 of them are triangles.

Amy shares, "Now, this watermelon doesn’t have any flat surfaces. It is made up of a curved surface. Its 3-D shape is a sphere." Spheres don’t have any faces, edges, or vertices. How interesting!

Nelson explains, "This tin can is the shape of a cylinder." Cylinders are made up of flat and curved surfaces. They have 2 faces and 2 edges but no vertices. What shape are the faces? Yes, circles!

Amy and Nelson’s last object is an ice cream cone. This shape is simply called a cone. It has 1 face, 0 edges, and 1 vertex. Cones have a circle on one end.

Amy and Nelson found so many 3-D shapes in their kitchen. Thank you for helping them identify each shape!