Shapes everywhere
Just as you live in a world of numbers, you also live in a world of
shapes.
Your house or apartment is full of shapes. Every corner forms a shape
called an angle. Every door and doorway is a shape called a rectangle.
Most windows are rectangles, too, and often they’re divided into smaller
rectangles.
If you live in an apartment, the building probably has a flat roof. But
if you live in a house, chances are that the ends of the roof form a
shape called a triangle.
Concrete sidewalks are divided into shapes called squares or rectangles.
The lines that separate the squares or rectangles are shapes, too,
because a line is a shape. A stop sign on the street corner is an
eight-sided shape called an octagon. A manhole cover on the street looks
like a round, flat shape called a circle. But, because it has thickness,
it is really a round, solid shape called a disk. And most coins are also
disks.
Did you ever blow soap bubbles? Round, gleaming soap bubbles that float
in the air are shapes called spheres. So are baseballs, tennis balls,
basketballs, and globes.
A tin can is a shape called a cylinder. And a telephone pole is a
cylinder, too.
An ice-cream cone is named for its shape, which is a cone. Ice cubes and
sugar cubes are also named for their shape, the cube.
As you can see, you really do live in a world of shapes! So let’s take a
look at some of the many kinds of shapes around us.
