Geometry for Students in Elementary School

Overview of Elementary Geometry

Lower Elementary

In kindergarten, your child will be expected to correctly name geometric shapes and to identify a shape as either 2-dimensional (flat) or 3-dimensional (solid). At this level, your child should also be able to describe environmental objects using the correct geometry name and also an appropriate term that describes the shape's relative position, such as above or beside. You will also want to be sure your child can use small shapes to create a larger shape. For instance, your child could join two small triangles to form a square.

At the first and second grade levels, your student should know about a geometric shape's defining attributes, such as the number of sides and angles. He or she will also identify non-defining attributes, like color or size. Your child will draw and build a variety of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional geometric shapes that possess certain defining attributes. For instance, you may have your child draw a shape that has three angles or one face. Lastly, your lower elementary child will learn to partition circles and rectangles into equal shares and to describe the pieces using terms like fourths, quarters, thirds and halves.

Upper Elementary

In third grade, your child will need to understand that shapes in different categories can share similar characteristics. Your third grader will also learn about quadrilaterals and identify examples, such as squares, rhombuses and rectangles.

Your fourth grader will be learning how to draw points, rays, lines and line segments. Your child should be comfortable drawing perpendicular lines, parallel lines, acute angles, right angles and obtuse angles. Be sure your student can identify right triangles, as well as classify 2-dimensional figures based on an absence or a presence of perpendicular or parallel lines. Lastly, your child must be able to recognize a line of symmetry for any 2-dimensional figure.

At the fifth grade level, your student will learn to use a pair of perpendicular lines to define a coordinate plane. Your child must also understand how to use an ordered pair of numbers to plot points within the first quadrant of this plane. It's also important that your fifth grader understands how to classify 2-dimensional figures into a hierarchy based on characteristics of geometric shapes.