Shape Race

The following geometry task is an early primary enabling task for teaching shape recognition. This activity is physically active and functions as a competitive game to engage and challenge children in the content. Recent studies have revealed increased learning outcomes in core subjects such as mathematics when incorporating regular physical activity into those subject lessons. (Vetter et al., 2019)

The Activity

Using chalk or duct tape on carpet in the classroom floor, pavement of the school yard or even draw in the sand pit shapes approximately 1m x 1m in size from the guides below.

(Is your school near to the beach? How about a field trip? Draw them in the sand!)

Using the lists of shapes below, and a stopwatch. Call out the next shape on the list once the child stands on the correct last called shape on the list. Challenge the child to beat personal best times.

Number of players:

1 time keeper
1 referee
1 player (at a time)

Materials:

chalk OR duct tape
stopwatch

Circle

Square

Triangle

Rectangle

Extending prompts

If students in the class already have some foundation knowledge in identifying the basic shapes above, the activity can be easily modified to suit the level of learner in the class by adding to the complexity of shapes to be identified, below.

Cylinder

Cube

Trapezium

Parallelogram

Hexagon

Pentagon

Relevance to 21st Century Learning

Collaboration

Over a period of weeks when the geometry unit is in focus, this activity can be set up ready for a fast 15minute morning warm up or after lunch time reset / class engagement activity where three to 4 students get a turn each morning at the challenge with their times added to the leader board. The idea is for each student to have had a go at least once per week with the aim to improve their time every week.

This challenge has great scope for collaborative work where students can take turns carrying out different roles such as time-keeping, recording and adjudicating the challenge, all of which engage them in the content and learning activity.

Creativity

There are endless ways to allow students to become involved in the setting up and administering of this mathematical and physical challenge including the rules of the competition, the shape race field of play.

Communication

With a leader board and weekly attempts at this challenge, teachers may opt to allow students to take on the responsibility of adjudicating the competition and assigning roles for the tournament. This process opens opportunity for students to communicate as participants and leaders in a supervised event organised and operated by the class.

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