🌱 Struggle = learning in progress

Think. Wonder. Reason.

Welcome to a geometry adventure — angles, triangles, and prisms. You won't just memorise rules here — you'll build them yourself with drawings, discussions, and a healthy dose of "what if…?"

Visual
Collaborative
Low Floor · High Ceiling
always 180° 🤯 notice a pattern? try it!

This is a thinking classroom, not a copying classroom.

Every task here asks you to notice, wonder, and argue (nicely!) about what's true. Work with a partner or a small random group whenever you can — talking is how your brain makes sense of new ideas. If you're stuck, that's a sign your brain is learning something new. Don't rush to the answer; rush to the question behind the question.

There's no secret "maths gene" — only the work you've put in so far, and the work still ahead.

Four modules, one geometry adventure ↓

Each module starts with a puzzle, not a definition. Start anywhere that sparks your curiosity — or follow the sequence below.

I

Shape Builders

When do three side lengths actually form a triangle? What makes a shape unique — and what makes it wobble?

Module I · Constructing Polygons
II

The Angle Toolbox

Right angles, straight angles, pairs that play together, and equations that unlock unknown angles.

Module II · Angles & Relationships
III

Into the Third Dimension

Slicing solids, measuring volume, wrapping surfaces. Geometry that lifts off the page.

Module III · Prisms & Solids
IV

Mission Mixer

Real situations. Messy numbers. Everything you've learned so far — now working together.

Module IV · Applied Problem Solving
II

The Angle Toolbox

Module II · Four lessons on the geometry of angles

This module unfolds across four lessons. Pick one to begin — or move through them in order. Each one builds on the last, but every lesson starts with a puzzle you can reason through on your own.

II

Special Angles

Lesson 1 · Quarter turns, half turns, full turns

🪟 Big question

If you can turn all the way around (360°), what happens if you turn halfway? A quarter of the way? And what do those turns have to do with the corner of a square or the point of a hexagon?

🚀 By the end of Topic A

You'll be able to recognise 90°, 180°, and 360° angles, use pattern-block reasoning to figure out any regular polygon's interior angle, and find unknown angles by combining the ones you know.

Huddle Task · standing · 4 min

Task A1 · Who reads the protractor right?

Elias measures an angle and says it's 55°. Sana looks at the same angle and says it's 125°. They used the same protractor. Neither is lying. Neither is "bad at maths."

Can both of them be partly right? Where on the protractor does this confusion usually happen? Write a one-sentence rule so your future self never makes this mistake.
90°
↑ Drag the yellow dot to change the angle

What to notice

  • Your protractor has two scales — inner and outer.
  • Reading the wrong scale flips the answer: 55° ↔ 125°, 25° ↔ 155°, and so on.
  • Trick: always check which ray starts at zero.
Key idea: Both students likely read different scales on the protractor. The correct answer depends on which ray of the angle is lined up with the zero mark. Rule of thumb: if an angle looks acute (less than 90°), the answer should be under 90°. If it looks obtuse, it should be over 90°. Trust your eyes and your protractor.

📘 Three special angles

  • Right angle — a quarter turn = 90°. Think of a corner of a book.
  • Straight angle — a half turn = 180°. Think of a flat line with a vertex marked.
  • Full turn — all the way around = 360°. Think of a spinning top returning home.

When two angles share a vertex and a side without overlapping, we call them adjacent angles. Adjacent angles can be combined — they "add up" along the rays they share.

Partner Task · pattern blocks

Task A2 · Three hexagons, one point

Kwame places three regular hexagon pattern blocks so that one corner of each hexagon meets at the same point, with no gaps and no overlaps.

What does this tell you about the measure of one interior angle of a regular hexagon? After you've worked it out, use the same idea to find the interior angle of the other pattern blocks below.

🧪 Pattern Block Lab — click to add blocks around the centre

Stack regular polygons around a single point. Watch the total turn. Which combinations fit perfectly? What does "perfectly" tell you about the corner angles?

Blocks placed0
Total angle
Goal: fill exactly 360° around the point.
A full turn around any point is 360°. If three identical hexagon corners fit exactly, each corner must be…?
Hexagon: 360° ÷ 3 = 120°. Similarly, four squares fit perfectly around a point → each square corner = 360° ÷ 4 = 90°. Six equilateral triangles fit perfectly → each triangle corner = 360° ÷ 6 = 60°. So much geometry comes from one idea: a full turn equals 360°.

✨ What to notice

  • Angles around a point always total 360°.
  • Angles on a straight line always total 180°.
  • Two right angles combine to a straight angle. Two straight angles combine to a full turn.

✓ Check in with yourself

II

Pairs Side-by-Side

Lesson 2 · Angles that touch — and what they add up to

🎯 Big question

Two angles are sitting next to each other. If you know one, can you figure out the other? The answer is "only if you know how they're related." Let's find out the two most useful relationships.

🧠 A reminder

Getting stuck is not the opposite of learning — it's part of it. If your first idea doesn't work, that's not failure; it's learning. Try a different drawing, measure something, or debate with a partner.

Paper-fold Task · partner

Task B1 · The torn corner

Teo tears a rectangular piece of paper diagonally across a corner — so the corner becomes split into two smaller angles. The corner itself was originally a 90° right angle. Teo measures one of the new angles and reads 28°.

Predict the other angle without measuring. Then explain why — not just what.

🧪 Complementary Lab

Drag the ray to split a right angle into two parts. The two parts are complementary — their measures add to 90°, no matter how you split it.

↑ Drag the yellow dot
Angle 1
Angle 2
Sum

No matter how you split a right angle — the two pieces always add to 90°.

Answer: 62°, because 28° + 62° = 90° — the full corner. Angles that add to 90° are called complementary.
Paper-cut Task · huddle

Task B2 · The paper slice

Your teacher hands out a small rectangular piece of paper. Starting from the middle of one long side, you cut a straight line all the way across to the other side. (The cut doesn't have to be perpendicular to the edge.) Your paper is now in two pieces.

Vivi measures the angle on one of his pieces and gets 48°. Without touching the other piece, predict Vivi's other angle. Explain why this works for any cut.

🧪 Supplementary Lab

Drag the ray to split a straight angle. The two parts are supplementary — their measures always sum to 180°.

↑ Drag the yellow dot
Left
Right
Sum
Answer: 132°, because the two angles combine along a straight line, so 48° + 132° = 180°. Angles that add to 180° are called supplementary.

📘 The two big words

  • Complementary — two angles that add to 90°. (Memory trick: Corner begins with C.)
  • Supplementary — two angles that add to 180°. (Memory trick: Straight begins with S.)

Adjacent complementary/supplementary angles sit side-by-side. But angles don't have to be adjacent to be complementary or supplementary — the relationship is about their measures, not their positions.

Solo Sort · then compare

Task B3 · Sort them out

Below are pairs of angle measures. Tap each pair to classify it as complementary, supplementary, or neither. Then compare with your partner — did you both classify them the same way?
Tap each pair to classify →
22° and 68°
115° and 65°
18° and 72°
55° and 35° and 90°
82° and 98°
37° and 53°
170° and 10°
60° and 40°

Each tap cycles: complementarysupplementaryneither → unsorted.

✓ Check in with yourself

II

Lines That Cross

Lesson 3 · Opposite angles & chains of reasoning

🪟 Big question

When two straight lines cross, four angles appear. They come in two pairs with a secret relationship — one that holds no matter how the lines cross. Your mission: find the pattern and prove why it's always true.

🎯 BTC move

This topic begs for a vertical non-permanent surface — a whiteboard, a window, a big sheet of butcher paper on the wall. Stand with your group. Draw big. Argue. Erase. Redraw.

Huddle Task · vertical whiteboard · 6 min

Task C1 · The intersection

Draw two straight lines that cross at a single point. Measure all four angles around the intersection. Compare with two other groups. What stays the same across every group's drawing? What changes?

🧪 Crossing Lines Lab — drag to rotate

Rotate the pink line. Watch all four angles. Which pairs are equal to each other? Which pairs add to 180°? Make a claim before reading the reveal.

↑ Drag either yellow dot
Plum pair
Sage pair
Plum + Sage

The plum pair is always equal. The sage pair is always equal. And one plum + one sage is always 180°.

Debate Task · convince your partner

Task C2 · Prove it, don't just show it

Hana says: "The angles that sit directly across from each other at a crossing are always equal — I measured ten examples and they all worked."

Mika says: "Ten examples is not a proof. What if the eleventh one breaks?" Your job: convince Mika that this will always be true, using angle reasoning rather than measurement. (Hint: look for pairs of supplementary angles hiding in the figure.)
Label the four angles a, b, c, d going around. What do angles a and b sum to? They sit on a straight line together.
a + b = 180°. But also b + c = 180° (another straight line!). What does that tell you about a and c?
The proof (in your own words): Label the four angles going around as a, b, c, d. Since a and b sit on a straight line: a + b = 180°. Since b and c also sit on a straight line: b + c = 180°. Both sums equal 180°, so a + b = b + c. Subtract b from both sides: a = c. The angles directly across from each other — called vertical angles — must always be equal. No measurement needed. 🎯

📘 The new word

  • Vertical angles — the two angles directly across from each other when two lines cross. They always have equal measure.

Why the name "vertical"? Not because they point up — because they share the same vertex. Confusing, but true. Blame the Romans.

Spot-the-pair Task

Task C3 · Finding relationships that aren't touching

In the figure below, angle P = 42°. Using any mix of vertical, complementary, and supplementary reasoning, find the measures of the other labelled angles. Important: some of these angles are not adjacent to P — but you can still reason about them step by step.
P = 42° Q R S
Start with the angle that's vertical to P. Then use supplementary pairs along the straight lines. What about the angle where three lines meet?
Possible reasoning path:
• P and R are vertical angles, so R = 42°.
• Q is adjacent to P along the horizontal line. But Q is formed by the vertical line, which is perpendicular to the horizontal. So the straight-angle at the top is split into P + Q = 90° (since the vertical line bisects a straight angle), giving Q = 90° − 42° = 48°.
• S is vertical to Q, so S = 48°.
The big idea: you never need to measure. Each angle can be deduced from the ones you already know, using only three rules — vertical, complementary, supplementary.

✓ Check in with yourself

II

Unknown Angles & Equations

Lesson 4 · Turning angle facts into algebra

🧮 From words to equations

Now that you know how angles relate, you can write equations that capture those relationships. Algebra isn't a new monster — it's just a shorter way of saying what you already know.

Sentence stem ✍️

"Because these angles are ______, I know their measures add to ______. So I can write ______ = ______. Solving gives x = ______."

Use this stem every time you set up an equation today.

Solo Start · then pair

Task D1 · The unknown angle

Two angles form a straight line. One measures 73°. The other is labelled . Write an equation for x, solve it, and then explain to your partner — in words only, no variables — why your equation makes sense.
🧮 Build the equation
+ x =
So x =
Equation: 73 + x = 180 → x = 107°.
In words: Because the two angles form a straight line, they are supplementary, so their measures together must make 180°. If one of them is 73°, the other must be 180° − 73° = 107°.
Partner Task · stretch

Task D2 · Algebra at the intersection

Two straight lines cross. One angle is labelled (4x + 8)°. The angle vertical to it is labelled (6x − 16)°. Find x, then find the actual angle measure. After you solve it, turn to your partner: which angle relationship did you use — and why did it let you set up the equation you did?
(4x+8)° (6x−16)°
🧮 Build the equation

Since these angles are vertical, they must be equal. Set the expressions equal to each other:

4x + 8 = 6x − 16
x =
Vertical angles are equal. So 4x + 8 = 6x − 16. Subtract 4x, add 16, divide.
Solution: 4x + 8 = 6x − 16 → 24 = 2x → x = 12. Plug back in: 4(12) + 8 = 56°. Both labelled angles are 56°. Check: the other two angles at this intersection must be 124° each, because 56° + 124° = 180°. ✓
Rich Task · pick your entry

Task D3 · What could these angles be?

Two complementary angles are labelled (3x)° and (x + 18)°. List at least three different facts you can figure out — not just the value of x. Compare with your group. Did someone notice something you missed?
Things you can figure out:
• 3x + (x + 18) = 90, so 4x = 72, x = 18.
• The first angle = 54°, the second angle = 36°.
• 54° + 36° = 90° ✓ (they're complementary).
• Neither angle is a right angle, but together they make one.
• The first angle is 18° bigger than the second.
• Both angles are acute (less than 90°).
Your group may notice even more — great!
Design Task · open-middle

Task D4 · Design your own figure

Create a figure with at least one pair of vertical angles, one pair of complementary angles, and one pair of supplementary angles. Label only two of the angles with numbers. All the other angles should be findable using reasoning.

Trade figures with a partner. Can your partner find every angle without asking you for hints?

✨ Success looks like…

  • A clean sketch with straight lines and a clear vertex.
  • Exactly two given numbers — not one, not three.
  • A partner who solves every other angle without asking for hints.
  • A moment where your partner says "oh — that's clever!"

🎤 Before you leave

Pick one task from today that challenged you most. Tell a classmate:

  • What you tried first — even if it didn't work.
  • What you'd tell a Year 6 student about this topic, in one sentence.
  • A question you still have.

Unanswered questions are gold. Hang onto them.

✓ Unit self-check

I

Shape Builders

Module I · Constructing polygons from given conditions

🪟 Big question

If I give you three side lengths, can you always build a triangle? Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no, and sometimes there's more than one way. Your mission: figure out which is which, and why.

🚀 By the end of Module I

You'll know when three measurements force a unique triangle, when they allow many triangles, and when they make no triangle at all. You'll also handle quadrilaterals and other polygons.

Huddle Task · with straws or sticks

Task B1 · The hinge

Orla has two strips of paper, one 7 cm long and one 5 cm long. She attaches them at one end with a brad so they can swing freely — like a hinge. She asks: "As I swing the 5 cm strip around, what shape does its free end trace?"

Sketch the path. Then explain: if a third side has length 4 cm, can you always connect the two free ends to make a triangle? What about length 13 cm? Length 1 cm?
7 cm (fixed) 5 cm (swinging) ...traces a circle!
The free end of the 5 cm strip can be anywhere on a circle of radius 5 cm. The free end of the 7 cm strip sits at a fixed point, 7 cm away. To make a triangle, the third side has to reach between those two points. What's the shortest distance it could be? What's the longest?
Key idea — the triangle inequality: For a triangle to exist, each side must be shorter than the sum of the other two.
• Third side = 4 cm: works! (4 is between 7−5=2 and 7+5=12)
• Third side = 13 cm: impossible. The two shorter strips together reach only 12 cm — they can't stretch to 13.
• Third side = 1 cm: impossible. The 7 cm strip overshoots the 5 cm strip by more than 1 cm no matter how you swing it.
Rule of thumb: the third side must be between (big − small) and (big + small).

📘 The Triangle Inequality

Given any three sides, a triangle exists only if:

Why? If the longest side were longer than or equal to the sum of the other two, the two shorter sides couldn't stretch far enough to meet.

Solo Sort · then share

Task B2 · Triangle or no triangle?

Below are sets of three side lengths. Tap each one to classify — makes a triangle or impossible. Explain your decisions to your partner before checking.
Tap each set to classify →
8, 11, 14
2, 4, 9
5, 5, 9
3, 4, 8
7, 24, 25
6, 6, 15
10, 10, 10
2, 2, 5

Tap cycles: makes a triangleimpossible → unsorted.

Partner Task · unique or many?

Task B3 · Is there only one way?

Zayd draws a triangle with sides 7, 9, and 11. Reika draws another triangle — also with sides 7, 9, and 11, but laid out differently. Can her triangle look different from Zayd's, or must it be the same? What about if they're only given two sides (say 7 and 9) and one angle (say 42°)? Can multiple different triangles still exist?
Try building both. With three sides given, can you wiggle anything? With two sides and one angle given — does it matter where the angle sits?
Three sides (SSS): Unique! Once you fix the three side lengths, the triangle is forced — Zayd's and Reika's triangles are identical copies of each other (possibly flipped or rotated). You cannot "flex" a triangle the way you can flex a quadrilateral.

Two sides + one angle: Depends! If the angle is between the two given sides (SAS), the triangle is unique. If the angle is opposite one of the given sides (SSA), you can sometimes get two different triangles — a famously tricky case. Try it: 7, 9, and 42° where 42° is opposite the side of length 7.

📘 Sets of conditions that force a unique triangle

AAA (three angles) gives you infinite similar triangles of different sizes. SSA sometimes gives you two different triangles.

Quadrilateral Task

Task B4 · Four sides, many shapes

A rectangle has sides 8 and 5 (so side lengths 8, 5, 8, 5 in order). Elias claims: "If I use the same four side lengths, I must get the same rectangle." Sana disagrees. Who is right? Draw a different quadrilateral with the same four side lengths to support your side of the argument.
Sana is right. Quadrilaterals are floppy — you can squish a rectangle into a parallelogram by "shearing" it sideways. The side lengths stay the same (8, 5, 8, 5) but the angles change. Try it with strips of cardboard and paper fasteners — a rectangle flops easily into a non-rectangular parallelogram. This is why real-world structures use triangular bracing. 🏗️

✓ Check in with yourself

III

Into the Third Dimension

Module III · Slicing, volume, and surface area

🪟 Big question

If you slice through a 3D shape, what shape does the cut reveal? How much space does a 3D object take up — and how much "skin" wraps around it? Welcome to thinking in three dimensions.

🧠 Thinking move

3D is hard to see on paper. Use your hands. Grab a cereal box, a soup can, a Toblerone bar. Turn them, slice them mentally, trace the faces with your finger. Geometry is physical before it's abstract.

Huddle Task · with clay or bread

Task C1 · The slicer

Ayla says: "No matter how you slice a rectangular prism, the cross section is always a rectangle."
Lior says: "I'm not so sure."

Who is right? If you disagree with Ayla, describe a slice that would not give a rectangle. Use a block of clay or a loaf of bread — try it!
slice at an angle →
Lior is right. If you slice parallel to one of the faces, yes — you get a rectangle. But if you slice at an angle, the cross section can be a parallelogram, a trapezoid, or even a pentagon or hexagon, depending on how your cut intersects the faces of the prism. Try it: slice through the top face and the two opposite side faces at a slant → hexagonal cross-section!

📘 Cross-sections you'll meet

Partner Task · build & measure

Task C2 · How much fits inside?

A rectangular prism is 6 cm wide, 4 cm deep, and 9 cm tall. Without any formula, can you figure out how many 1 cm³ cubes you could pack inside it?

After your group has an answer, write a general rule. If a prism has a base area B and a height h, what's the volume?
🧮 Find the volume
V = cm³
Imagine laying a single layer of cubes on the bottom — how many fit? Now how many layers tall?
V = 6 × 4 × 9 = 216 cm³. The bottom layer is a 6×4 rectangle that fits 24 cubes. Stacking 9 layers gives 24 × 9 = 216 cubes.

General rule: V = B × h, where B is the area of the base and h is the height (perpendicular to the base). This works for any prism — not just rectangular ones. A triangular prism, a hexagonal prism, a weird-shaped prism — all follow V = base area × height.
Stretch · tricky base

Task C3 · The triangular prism

A prism has a triangular base — a right triangle with legs 3 cm and 8 cm. The prism is 12 cm long. Find its volume.

Beni says: "Just multiply 3 × 8 × 12 = 288." Selin says: "Wait — that's the volume of a rectangular box, not a triangular prism." Who's right?
🧮 Volume of the triangular prism
V = cm³
Selin is right. The base is a triangle, not a rectangle. A right triangle with legs 3 and 8 has area = ½ × 3 × 8 = 12 cm². So V = base area × height = 12 × 12 = 144 cm³. That's exactly half of Beni's answer — because a triangular prism is half of a rectangular box.
Surface Area Task

Task C4 · Wrapping paper

You want to wrap a gift box — a rectangular prism — with no overlaps and no gaps. The box is 12 cm × 7 cm × 5 cm. How much wrapping paper do you need?

Hint: unfold the box in your mind. How many faces? What are their dimensions?
top (12×7) side(7×5) front (12×5) side(7×5) back bottom (12×7)
🧮 Total surface area
SA = cm²
A rectangular prism has 6 faces, in 3 pairs. Find each pair's area, double it, and add.
SA = 2(12×7) + 2(12×5) + 2(7×5)
= 2(84) + 2(60) + 2(35)
= 168 + 120 + 70
= 358 cm².

Big idea: surface area measures skin (2D, in cm²). Volume measures filling (3D, in cm³). They are different things! A huge flat pancake can have lots of surface area but little volume. A compact cube has lots of volume but relatively little surface area.

✓ Check in with yourself

IV

Mission Mixer

Module IV · Everything together, in the wild

🌍 Big question

The real test of understanding isn't remembering a formula — it's knowing which formula to pull out when a messy, real-world problem lands on your desk. Module IV brings together everything you've learned.

🧗 Stretch further

"I don't know" is a fine starting place. "I don't know yet" is better. These problems have many entry points — pick one and start sketching. Don't wait for the "right" method to appear.

Applied Task · angle + polygon

Task D1 · The crystal

Nadia finds a crystal in the shape of a triangular prism. The triangular base has sides 8, 15, and 17 cm — and she notices it's a right triangle. The prism is 15 cm long.

Find: (a) the volume of the crystal, (b) the total surface area, and (c) the angles of the triangular base.
For volume: find the base area (right triangle, so ½ × leg × leg). For surface area: two triangle faces + three rectangular faces. For angles: one is 90° (right triangle), the other two must sum to 90°.
(a) Volume: Base area = ½ × 8 × 15 = 60 cm². V = 60 × 15 = 900 cm³.
(b) Surface area: Two triangles (60 each) + three rectangles (8×15=120, 15×15=225, 17×15=255). Total = 120 + 120 + 225 + 255 = 720 cm².
(c) Angles: One is 90°. Using trigonometry (or recognising 8-15-17 as a Pythagorean triple), the other two are approximately 28.1° and 61.9°. They sum to 90°, because the angles in a triangle always total 180°.
Huddle Task · design problem

Task D2 · The fish tank

Kiran is designing a fish tank shaped like a rectangular prism. It must hold exactly 18 litres of water (1 litre = 1000 cm³, so 18 L = 18,000 cm³). She also wants it to use as little glass as possible (minimum surface area — no lid).

Find three different sets of dimensions that hold 18 L. Which one uses the least glass? Explain your reasoning.
Possible tanks (all hold 18,000 cm³):
• 20 × 20 × 45 cm → SA (no lid) = 20·20 + 2(20·45) + 2(20·45) = 400 + 3600 = 4000 cm²
• 30 × 30 × 20 cm → SA (no lid) = 30·30 + 2(30·20) + 2(30·20) = 900 + 1200 + 1200 = 3300 cm²
• 25 × 30 × 24 cm → SA (no lid) = 25·30 + 2(25·24) + 2(30·24) = 750 + 1200 + 1440 = 3390 cm²

Big idea: for a fixed volume, shapes closer to a cube tend to use less glass. Long skinny tanks waste glass. This is why soup cans and soda cans aren't super long and narrow — there's an "optimal" proportion.
Rich Task · open middle

Task D3 · Design your own problem

Invent a word problem that combines at least two of: an angle relationship, a triangle condition, a volume calculation, or a surface area calculation. Give it to your partner to solve. It should be hard enough that the answer isn't obvious, but solvable with the tools in this unit.

✨ Success looks like…

  • A clear setup with no extra unnecessary numbers.
  • At least two concepts genuinely needed to solve it.
  • An answer that surprises your partner (good surprising, not mean surprising).
  • A moment where your partner says "oh — that's a nice problem!"

🎤 Before you leave the unit

Pick one task from this entire unit that challenged you most. Tell a classmate:

Unanswered questions are gold. Hang onto them.

✓ Final self-check