Math Story : Rolling, Sliding And Stacking Property Of 3D Objects

The Shape-a-thon

“Children! Are you ready? 1, 2, 3 Go!” says Uncle Math. He is conducting a special shapes race called Shape-a-thon. It has three rounds. In each round, the kids will participate with a 3D shape of their choice. Whichever shape completes all the rounds, wins. Sounds interesting, isn’t it?

The kids are thrilled. It is their first time taking part in such a race. Squarho picks cube shape, Cirha picks sphere, Cirho picks cylinder, and finally, Triho picks a cone.

The kids need to run and reach the slide. Then slide their objects from the top and collect them from the bottom.

Squarho reaches the slide first. He drops the cube on the slide and pushes it. It swiftly slides to the bottom. Cirha drops her Sphere on the top and pushes it. Instead of sliding, it rolls to the bottom. Cirha is disappointed

Triho realizes that his cone has a pointed corner that will not let it slide easily. So he places his cone upside down and pushes it. It easily slides to the bottom. Cirho places his cylinder vertically and it also easily slides to the bottom. Level 1 ends.

Now, kids need to roll their 3D shapes under a fence and collect it from the other end.

Cirho goes first. He places the Cylinder vertically again and pushes it to roll. It does not roll. “Oh no! Let me place it horizontally and try”, says Cirho. This time the Cylinder rolls effectively and reaches the other end.

Following Cirho, Triho also places the cone horizontally and pushes it. The cone rolls and reaches the end. Cirha places her sphere and pushes it without much effort. It rolls fast like a ball. “Hurray!” she screams.

This is the final round! Here, the kids need to make a tall tower using their shapes. Everybody is all set.

Squarho stacks the cube over the other. He grabs some more cubes and makes a big, big tower. Triho realizes that the pointed corner of the cone will not let him build a tower. He places the circular face of the cone and starts stacking some more cones on top of it. Despite using many cones, he could not build a big tower.

Following Triho, Cirho also places the circular face of the Cylinder at the bottom and continues to stack more cylinders on top of it. His tower looks big now but it is shaky. Cirho is nervous. On the other side, Cirha is frustrated. She is trying extremely hard to balance her sphere. But she fails. Level 3 ends.

The Shape-a-thon is over. Time to announce the winners. “Clearly, Triho’s Cone and Cirho’s Cylinder have won the race. They could complete all three rounds”, announces Uncle Math. both of them are happy.

“Cheating! I cannot lose! Both cylinder and cone have circular faces just like sphere. Then why could my sphere not complete the rounds?“ she questions unable to accept defeat.

Uncle Math comes to the rescue. He says, “In Level 1, the cube, cone, and cylinder could easily slide. What is something common in all the three shapes, Cirha?” After some thinking, Cirha answers, “Oh yea! All the three have at least one flat face”. Uncle Math appreciates her.

“Let us get to Level 2. Sphere, cone, and cylinder could easily roll. Why?” asks Uncle Math. Triho is intrigued and says, “I know why! All the three have at least one curved face“. Uncle Math is amazed. He agrees with Triho.

“Finally, in Level 3 cube, cone and cylinder could easily stack. Sphere could not…” Cirha interrupts here and says, “Because the sphere has only a curved face. Whereas other shapes have flat faces”. “Brilliant Cirha!” says Uncle Math.

“This means shapes with flat faces can easily slide and stack. Whereas the shapes with curved faces can easily roll. Hence, the cube shape can easily slide and stack. Sphere shape can only roll. Cone and cylinder shapes can easily slide, stack and roll. Aren’t these amazing kids?” says Uncle Math.

The kids agree with Uncle Math. “We cannot always win. It is important to accept defeat and learn from it”, explains Uncle Math. Cirha apologizes for her rude behaviour. After a tiring race, it is time to walk back home. It was a fun-filled day indeed.

We Learnt That…

Cube and cuboid can slide and stack.

Cylinder and cone can slide, stack and roll.
Sphere can only roll.
Accepting defeat is as important as accepting victory.

Let’s Discuss

What was Uncle Math organizing?
How many rounds were there? What were the rounds?
Why could cube and cuboid slide and stack?
Why could the cone and cylinder slide, stack and roll?
Why could the sphere only roll?
“We cannot always win. It is important to accept defeat and learn from it”. What do you understand by this?

Please refer this guide by Fun2Do Labs for teaching solid shapes to kids :

Solid Shapes