Boxes and Sketches
Class 5 · Mathematics
4 ideas in Class 5 Mathematics, explained in plain words, with games and quizzes to practise.
Nets of a cube
Part of: Nets and boxes
A net is a flat shape that folds up into a solid. A cube has 6 faces and every face is the same square. If you cut a cardboard shape made of 6 squares and fold it along the joins, it only becomes a cube when no two squares land on top of each other. A plus-like shape with a row of 4 squares and one square above and one below works well.
Why it matters. Picturing how a flat shape folds builds the mental pictures needed for geometry, packing and design. Without it, children memorise shapes but cannot reason about them.
Try it in two minutes
- Cut six equal squares from an old cereal box or paper.
- Tape them in a straight row of six and ask: will this fold into a cube? Let your child try and see what happens.
- Now tape four squares in a row and add one above and one below the row. Fold it and ask which squares became the top and the bottom.
- Ask your child to find something at home shaped like a cube, such as a small gift box or a dice.
Try at home. Ask your child to draw one more shape of six squares that folds into a cube and test it with paper.
Open boxes and other boxes
Part of: Nets and boxes
An open box is a box with no lid, like a tray or a pen stand. It needs 5 faces: one base and four walls. Not all boxes are cubes. A box shaped like a brick has 6 rectangular faces, and the faces opposite each other are the same size.
Why it matters. Knowing how many faces a box needs helps children plan how to make or pack things, and it supports later work on surface area and volume.
Try it in two minutes
- Cut five equal squares and tape them with one in the middle and one on each of its four sides.
- Fold the outer squares up. Ask your child what the middle square became.
- Take a closed matchbox or a tea box. Ask your child to count its faces and find the pairs that look the same.
- Ask: could six equal squares make this box? Why or why not?
Try at home. Ask your child to find three boxes at home and say which are cubes and which are not.
Floor maps and deep drawings
Part of: Maps, drawings and views
A floor map is a drawing of a house as seen from straight above. It shows where the walls, doors and windows are, but not how high anything is. A deep drawing shows length, width and height together, so it looks like a real object. To draw a cube, draw one square for the front, a second square slightly up and to the side for the back, and join the matching corners.
Why it matters. Maps and drawings are how builders, designers and engineers share ideas. Children who can read both stay oriented and can draw what they see.
Try it in two minutes
- Draw a rectangle for your room as seen from above and mark the door and windows. Say this is a floor map.
- Ask your child: can you tell how tall the window is from this map? Why not?
- Show how to draw a cube: two same-sized squares, one a little up and to the right of the other, then four joining lines.
- Ask your child to draw a box of tissues the same way.
Try at home. Ask your child to make a floor map of their bedroom and then a deep drawing of the bed or cupboard.
Top, front and side views
Part of: Maps, drawings and views
The same object can look different from different sides. The view from above is the top view, and the views from the front and the side show height. A tower of 4 cubes looks like 1 square from the top but like 4 squares stacked from the front.
Why it matters. Reading views helps children understand diagrams, models and building plans, and it trains the mind to turn objects around without touching them.
Try it in two minutes
- Place three building blocks in a straight row on the table.
- Ask your child to draw what they see from the top, and then from one end of the row.
- Stack two blocks on one end and ask what changes in each view.
- Ask which view shows how wide the model is.
Try at home. Ask your child to build a small model with blocks and draw its top view and front view.
What your child will practise
- Floor maps and deep drawings: Candy Quick Fire (Quick Fire)
- Nets of a cube: Desert Quick Fire (Quick Fire)
- Nets of a cube: Number Quest (Match It Up)
- Open boxes and other boxes: Ocean Puzzle (Clue Puzzle)
- Top, front and side views: Ocean Quest (Collect the Answer)
- Quiz: Floor maps and deep drawings (8 questions)
- Quiz: Nets of a cube (8 questions)
- Quiz: Open boxes and other boxes (8 questions)
- Quiz: Top, front and side views (8 questions)