3rd Grade Mathematics
Instructional Week 25
Identifying, describing, drawing, and sorting categories of two-dimensional and
three-dimensional shapes.
Paced Standards:
3.G.1: Identify and describe the following: cube, sphere, prism, pyramid, cone, and cylinder. 
3.G.2: Understand that shapes (e.g., rhombuses, rectangles, and others) may share attributes
(e.g., having four sides), and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g.,
quadrilaterals). Recognize and draw rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of
quadrilaterals. Recognize and draw examples of quadrilaterals that do not belong to any of these
subcategories. 
3.G.3: Identify, describe and draw points, lines and line segments using appropriate tools (e.g.,
ruler, straightedge, and technology), and use these terms when describing two-dimensional
shapes. 
Prerequisite/Foundational Standards:
2.G.1: Identify, describe, and classify two- and three-dimensional shapes (triangle, square, rectangle,
cube, right rectangular prism) according to the number and shape of faces and the number of sides
and/or vertices. Draw two-dimensional shapes.
2.G.2: Create squares, rectangles, triangles, cubes, and right rectangular prisms using appropriate
materials.
2.G.5: Partition circles and rectangles into two, three, or four equal parts; describe the shares using
the words halves, thirds, half of, a third of, etc.; and describe the whole as two halves, three thirds,
four fourths. Recognize that equal parts of identical wholes need not have the same shape.
2.M.3: Understand that the length of an object does not change regardless of the units used.
Measure the length of an object twice using length units of different lengths for the two
measurements. Describe how the two measurements relate to the size of the unit chosen.
3rd Grade ISTEP+ Toolkit
Indianapolis Public Schools
Curriculum and Instruction
3.G.1
Standard: 3.G.1: Identify and describe the following: cube, sphere, prism, pyramid, cone, and cylinder.
Teacher Background Information:
Students spend a great deal of time in third grade understanding 2-dimensional measurement based on their work
with 2-dimensional shapes in earlier grades. Identifying and describing 3-dimensional shapes build the foundation for
measurement of 3-dimensional shapes in later grades. Students need to be able to describe three dimensional
shapes based on their attributes in order to make sense of volume and surface area formulas.
Students need multiple exposures to 3-dimensional objects and not simply 2-dimensional representations of 3dimensional objects (e.g., pictures on a worksheet or in a book).
A cube is a region of space formed by six identical square faces joined along their
edges. Three edges join at each corner to form a vertex. The cube can also be called
a regular hexahedron. Students should recognize a cube as a special kind of
rectangular prism just as they should recognize a square as a special kind of
rectangle.
A sphere is a round solid figure with every point on its surface equidistant from its center.
A prism is a solid geometric figure whose two end faces (bases) are
congruent and parallel polygons. The sides (lateral faces) of a prism
are parallelograms, while the lateral faces of a right prism are
rectangles. A prism is named for its bases as shown to the left.
Indianapolis Public Schools
Curriculum and Instruction
3.G.1
Standard: 3.G.1: Identify and describe the following: cube, sphere, prism, pyramid, cone, and cylinder.
Teacher Background Information:
A pyramid is a polyhedron that has a base, which can be any polygon, and three or more triangular faces that meet at
a point called the apex.
A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not
necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
A cylinder is a solid with two congruent parallel bases and sides with parallel elements that join corresponding points
on the bases. There are several special classes of cylinders, including prisms (with polygons for bases), right prisms,
rectangular prisms, and cubes. In elementary school, it is appropriate to classify a cylinder and its relatives the prisms
as different categories.
Process Standards to Emphasize with Instruction of 3.G.1:
3.PS.5: Use appropriate tools strategically.
3.PS.6: Attend to precision.
3.PS.7: Look for and make use of structure.
Indianapolis Public Schools
Curriculum and Instruction
3.G.2
Standard: 3.G.2 Understand that shapes (e.g., rhombuses, rectangles, and others) may share attributes (e.g., having
four sides), and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g., quadrilaterals). Recognize and draw
rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of quadrilaterals. Recognize and draw examples of quadrilaterals that
do not belong to any of these subcategories.
Teacher Background Information:
In second grade, students identify, describe, and create triangles, squares, and rectangles. Third graders build
on this experience by investigating quadrilaterals (technology may be used during this exploration). Students
recognize shapes that are and are not quadrilaterals by examining the properties of the geometric figures. They
conceptualize that a quadrilateral must be a closed figure with four straight sides and begin to notice
characteristics of the angles and the relationship between opposite sides. Students should be encouraged to
provide details and use proper vocabulary when describing the properties of quadrilaterals. They sort geometric
figures (See examples below.) and identify squares, rectangles, and rhombuses as quadrilaterals.
In the classification of quadrilaterals and parallelograms, some subsets overlap. For example, a square is a rectangle
and a rhombus. Students may have difficulty seeing this type of subgroup relationship. They may correctly list all the
properties of a square, a rhombus, and a rectangle and still might classify a square as a “nonrhombus” or a
“nonrectangle.”
Process Standards to Emphasize with Instruction of 3.G.2:
3.PS.5: Use appropriate tools strategically.
3.PS.6: Attend to precision.
3.PS.7: Look for and make use of structure.
Indianapolis Public Schools
Curriculum and Instruction
3.G.3
Standard: 3.G.3 Identify, describe and draw points, lines and line segments using appropriate tools (e.g., ruler,
straightedge, and technology), and use these terms when describing two-dimensional shapes.
Teacher Background Information:
This standard asks students to identify, describe and draw points, lines, and line segments and to also
identify them in two- dimensional figures. Examples of points, line segments, and lines can be seen daily.
Students may not easily identify lines because they are more abstract.
A point is a zero-dimensional, specified location in space. It is named by a capital letter. Points can be used to
identify a specific location on a line and the place at which lines and line segments intersect. Point A is shown
below.
A

A line segment is a part of a line that is bounded by two distinct endpoints and contains every point on the line
between its endpoints. A line segment is identified by its endpoints and is measurable. Line segment AB is shown
below. It is one-dimensional and includes Point A, Point B, and all points in between. The notation for line
segment AB, which is the same as line segment BA, is AB or BA .
A line has only one dimension: length. It continues forever in two directions (so it has infinite length and is not
measurable), but has no width at all. A line connects two points via the shortest path, and then continues on in
both directions. Line AB is shown below. It contains both line segment AB as well as points A and B. The
notation for line AB, which is the same as line BA, is AB or BA.
A
B


Students will use these skills in fourth grade to create two-dimensional figures and further investigate the
structure of geometric shapes.
Process Standards to Emphasize with Instruction of 3.G.3:
3.PS.5: Use appropriate tools strategically.
3.PS.6: Attend to precision.
Indianapolis Public Schools
Curriculum and Instruction
Instructional Week 25
3 Grade Mathematics Assessment
rd
Name: _____________________________
1.
Sarah bought a poster with 4 equal length sides and 4 congruent angles. How could the poster that Sarah
bought be described?
A. a rhombus
B. a quadrilateral
C. a square
D. all of the above
2.
Three shapes are shown below.
rhombus
trapezoid
Which of the three shapes are quadrilaterals? Explain how you know.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3.
In the space below, draw the following:



Line RS
Point T that is not on Line RS
Line segment TR
Indianapolis Public Schools
Curriculum and Instruction
4.
Mandy knows that a square and a rhombus share the feature of having four equal sides. She wants to draw a
quadrilateral that is a rhombus but not a square. Which quadrilateral below could be the one that Mandy drew?
A.
B.
C.
D.
5.
Identify each picture of a three-dimensional shape below. Write its mathematical name on the line.
_______________________
Indianapolis Public Schools
________________________
____________________
Curriculum and Instruction
6a.
Consider a rectangular prism and a cube.
Describe one way in which the rectangular prism and cube are alike.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
6b.
Describe one way in which the rectangular prism and cube are different.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Indianapolis Public Schools
Curriculum and Instruction
Question
1
2
Instructional Week 25
3rd Grade Assessment Answer Key
Correct Answer
D
The rhombus, trapezoid, and rectangle are all quadrilaterals
since they each are closed figures with 4 sides made of line
segments.
Standard(s)
3.G.2
3.G.2
3
3.G.3
(or other correct diagram)
C
sphere, pentagonal pyramid (or simply pyramid), hexagonal
prism (or simply prism)
A cube is a rectangular prism. They both have 6 faces, 8
vertices, and 12 edges. (or other correct answer)
The faces of a cube are all congruent squares. The faces of a
rectangular prism that isn’t a cube are all rectangles. Some
of the faces might be squares but all of them won’t be,
because that would make it a cube. (or other correct
answer)
4
5
6a
6b
2
1
0
3.G.2
3.G.1
3.G.1
3.G.1
Content Rubric
A score of two indicates a thorough understanding of the mathematical concepts embodied in the
task. The response
 shows content related work executed correctly and completely.
A score of one indicates a partial understanding of the mathematical concepts embodied in the
task. The response
 contains errors in the content related work
A score of zero indicates limited or no understanding of the mathematical concepts embodied in
the task.
Indianapolis Public Schools
Curriculum and Instruction