A Chip off the Old Block
This is a Level 3 Geometry activity from the Figure It Out Series.
A PDF of the student activity is included.
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- Building and drawing three-dimensional solids.
- Multilink cubes
- Isometric dot paper
- FIO, Level 3, Geometry, A Chip off the Old Block, page 10
The greatest difficulty students have in working out how many cubes were used to make a drawn building is visualising the cubes they cannot see.
Activity One
You could ask students to predict the number of cubes they think is in each shape before they begin building. Students can then build their shapes and compare the physical shape with their answers. This should lead to some useful discussion about the cubes that they cannot see and should help students to understand why they need to include these cubes.
Activity Two
Students need to have had experience drawing simple three-dimensional shapes onto isometric dot paper before attempting this more difficult example.
Answers to Activity
Activity One
Answers will vary. The number of blocks used will depend on whether “hidden” blocks are included.
Activity Two
Practical activity