Polygons Are Everywhere

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Polygons are shapes that are flat, have straight sides, and are closed.

A closed shape means that all the sides connect to each other. A flat shape means it is not three-dimensional.

Polygons are named according to the number of sides they have. Some polygons have sides that are the same length, but some do not. A regular polygon is a polygon where the sides are all the same length and the angles are the same size.

A polygon has the same number of vertices as it has sides. A vertex (or vertices-plural) is where two sides of a polygon meet.

Polygons can also be congruent to each other. Congruent means to have the same size and same shape.

You have learned that a shape with four sides can be a square or rectangle. Polygons with four sides are called quadrilaterals. A square and a rectangle each have four sides, so they are considered quadrilaterals.

To learn more about quadrilaterals, see the Elephango lesson found under Additional Resources in the right-hand sidebar.

Let’s look at some examples of polygons. Discuss with a parent or teacher why the following shapes are polygons:

The following shapes are not polygons. Discuss with a parent or teacher why they are not polygons:

Polygons are named by the number of straight sides they have. Let’s look at the chart below to see the names of common polygons:

Next, pay attention to how the video shows examples of real-world polygons as you watch Polygons | Educational Video for Kids from Happy Learning English:

Discuss with a parent or teacher at least two examples of polygons in the real world that you saw in the video.

• Is the figure below a polygon?

Explain to a parent or teacher why or why not.

In the Got It? section, you will play games and complete interactive practice to identify polygons.