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Lesson 3 - Creating 3-D Shapes

To encourage students to have fun on the Web while learning about Creating 3-D Shapes, here are some games and interactive activities they can do on their own or in pairs.

Goal

Use building materials to create models of familiar 3-D shapes.

Instructions for Use

Isometric Drawing Tool lets students create models of familiar 3-D shapes.

To use Isometric Drawing Tool remember to construct the shape from back to front, or from bottom to top. Select and drag a cube or rhombus from the column, and place them on the work area. Click on the work area to drop the shape. Using the white arrow icon, from the top row, move the shape to any location. The red, yellow and blue arrows move the shape diagonally, or up and down, along the axes. Click on the eye icon to view the shapes from different perspectives. A separate pop-up window lets students rotate the shapes by moving the sliders. To rotate a base, click on the blue and red circular icon. To rotate a shape vertically, click on the yellow circular icon.

To change the colour of a face, edge, or cube, use the paintbrush icon. To change the colour of a face, click on a colour in the colour palette, then click on the rhombus icon from the column, and finally click on the face in the work area. To change the colour of an edge, click on a colour in the colour palette, then click on the pink line from the column, and finally click on the edge to be coloured in the work area. To change the colour of a cube, click on a colour in the colour palette, then click on the cube icon from the column, and finally click on the cube in the work area.

To change a cube into faces, click on the explode button - the blue, red, and yellow cube on the top row, and then on the cube in the work area.

To erase a single shape, click the eraser icon and click on the shape to be erased. To erase all shapes, click the eraser icon and click twice on the work area.