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Sizing Them Up

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star
Primary curriculum
  • Problem
  • Getting Started
  • Student Solutions
  • Teachers' Resources


Arrange these shapes in order of size. Put the smallest first.

How are you deciding on the order?

 

seven irregular shapes
 
 
You may like to use the interactivity below to keep track of the order and/or to record your final solution.

 

 

Once you've had a chance to think about it, click below to see how four different pupils began working on the task.

Kelsey said:

"I printed the shapes and then measured the length of each shape at the longest point." 

 

Louise and Rosie said:

"We observed the area of each and tried to rearrange the shapes in our heads to compare them." 

 

Thomas said:

"I cut out the shapes then cut each up into little pieces and laid them on top of each other to see which was bigger. I also put them on a grid with small squares and counted the number of squares for each." 


Can you take each of these starting ideas and develop it into a solution?

You may be interested in the other problems in our Celebrating Solutions Feature.

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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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