The key idea of shape at level 1 is that objects can be sorted by their appearance.
At level 1 students are developing an awareness that objects can be sorted in a variety of ways. The attributes used to sort objects, including shapes, at this level will include both geometric properties such as number of sides, and size, and also features that are not formally recognised such as “looks like a house” or “has sharp corners”. Shapes can be described in relation to familiar objects, for example describing a circle as “like a wheel” or a rectangle as “like a window”. The language used to describe shapes will initially be colloquial such as “fat”, “skinny”, “pointy”, “tall”, “short”, “has lots of sides”, “bendy”, and so on. Simple geometric language will also be developing, such as straight, curved, flat, round edge, side and corner. Both two dimensional and three dimensional shapes can be sorted according to their appearance.
This key idea develops from informal exploration and manipulation of shapes during pre-school years.
This key idea is extended in the key idea of shape at level 2 by an increased understanding of geometric properties, such as number of sides, names of shapes, and ideas about symmetry.