Teachers posed this question to first graders during their study of geometry.

First graders went beyond naming basic two-dimensional shapes to exploring specific characteristics, or attributes, that define them. Their conversations evolved from seeing a shape as a “whole” such as a triangle, to analyzing and deciding the specific features that prove that it is a triangle. Students decided that a shape can only be called a triangle if it has three straight lines that make up the sides, three corners, or vertices, and does not have any openings (it needs to be closed).  Through this specific definition, they discovered that there are many types of triangles. They used this critical thinking foundation to explore a variety of two-dimensional shapes.

“Does a Circle Have Sides?”

 This was an interesting question to ponder. First grade teachers, Sarah and Ariane, posed it to their students to see if they could apply the skills they had learned about defining geometric attributes to this question. It turns out that it wasn’t an easy question to answer!

Here is what a few LREI faculty said:

So what’s the final word on how many sides to a circle?

This depends on how you define what a side is. It all goes back to the first grader’s critical discussion of geometric attributes.