Properties of 2-D shapes – Year 6 maths lesson
Lesson 24 of 32 in the Year 6 maths course
UK version. UK school years, UK spelling and pounds (£). · US Math Department
A complete 45-minute lesson for Year 6 (ages 10–11) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is marked straight away, with a worked explanation.
- Time
- 45 minutes + 20 min homework
- Year
- Year 6 (ages 10–11)
- You need
- Paper, a pencil and this page
- Marked
- Instantly, with explanations
For parents: how to use this lesson
You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is marked straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to mark anything.
- Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
- Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
- Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
- Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “Is a square a rectangle? Is a rectangle a square? Explain.”
- Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.
Watch out for
- Thinking a square is not a rectangle. Check the rule: four right angles – a square has them too.
- Naming shapes by how they look when turned (a "diamond"). Count sides and check angles, whatever way round it is.
Tip for home: Hunt for parallel and perpendicular lines in windows, doors and tiles.
What your child will learn
We are learning to describe and classify 2-D shapes by their sides, angles and lines.
Success looks like
- I can describe shapes by their properties.
- I can spot parallel and perpendicular lines.
- I can classify shapes.
Key words
- polygon
- a flat shape with straight sides
- parallel
- always the same distance apart
- perpendicular
- meeting at a right angle
- regular
- all sides and angles equal
What to have ready
- Paper and a pencil
- This page on a computer, tablet or phone
- For the hands-on part: Sort cut-out shapes into groups using a sorting diagram: has a right angle / has parallel sides.
The big ideas (for the adult)
Shapes are grouped by their properties: the number of sides, equal sides, parallel sides and the size of their angles.
Parallel lines never meet; perpendicular lines meet at a right angle.
A square is a special rectangle, and a rectangle is a special parallelogram: one shape can belong to several groups.
The lesson, step by step
| Part | Time | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Starter: quick recall | 5 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Teaching input | 10 min | Not assessed, self-checked |
| Worked examples and guided practice | 9 min | Not assessed, marked by Classfern |
| Independent practice | 15 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Plenary and exit ticket | 6 min | Marked by Classfern, self-checked |
Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are marked by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.
The lesson
It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.
Homework and practice at home
20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all marked instantly.
More practice
More Year 6 maths lessons
- Place value: the value of each digit
- Negative numbers
- Comparing, ordering and writing numbers
- Negative numbers and temperature
- Long multiplication
- Short division
- Long division
- Order of operations
- Factors and multiples
- Prime numbers
- Estimating and checking answers
- Solving word problems
- Adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators
- Multiplying fractions
- Percentages of amounts
- Calculating with decimals
- Rounding decimals
- Adding and subtracting decimals
- Fractions, decimals and percentages
- Comparing and simplifying fractions
- Converting units of measure
- Volume of cuboids
- Missing angles
- 3-D shapes and nets
- Coordinates
- Line graphs
- Pie charts
- The mean (average)
- Ratio and proportion
- Formulae and equations
- Sequences
Curriculum
National Curriculum for England, Year 6: “illustrate and name parts of circles, including radius, diameter and circumference and know that the diameter is twice the radius”
National Curriculum for England, Year 6: “compare and classify geometric shapes based on their properties and sizes and find unknown angles in any triangles, quadrilaterals, and regular polygons”
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.