Teaching Strategies, Tactics, and Methods

What is a Pictogram?

Also referred to as a picto or a pictograph, a pictogram is a chart or graph used to represent data. Unlike bar graphs or line graphs which have a sole way of expressing data, pictograms use pictures, with each image representing a different physical object.

Graphs can be tricky to interpret at a glance, with separate keys and axis needing to be read to understand better. This struggle goes for adults as much as it does kids, so that pictograms can be handy for everyone! As you’ll see later, all a person needs to be able to interpret the data in a pictogram is a key for how many units one object represents – easy peasy!

Fun Fact: The word ‘pictogram’ can also refer to a pictorial symbol in the language (Egyptian hieroglyphics are probably the most well-known graphic language). In computing, a pictogram would be called an icon.

As you can see above, pictograms vaguely resemble a bar chart, with the clear difference being the pictures inside the bars represent the data. Every pictogram must have a key for readers to distinguish what the image means. So in the above example, children and adults can tell that out of the students asked, five said yellow was their favorite color, with green being the least popular color.

What’s handy about pictograms is that once you’ve explained them to your students, they’ll be capable of using them in various ways to represent different data. What are pictograms used for, though? Let’s find out…

What are pictograms used for?

Beyond school, pictograms are used in much the same way – to help people connect a bar chart and the thing it represents. Again, they’re beneficial when the number involved is enormous. Using pictograms in instances such as this can help people to process what the numbers mean. As well as this, pictograms are used for ratings, progress toward a goal, and summarising the survey results.

You may see pictograms used in advertisements to handle data and show the consensus on a specific topic. As they’re easier to read than any other data representation, viewers can tell at a glance what a chart is trying to say. These pictograms can also be visually striking and very clean, making them more appealing. Ways you might see pictograms used in advertising is to show how popular a product is or a problem people face that a product can help with!

What does cubed mean in maths? A cube number is a number that is the product of multiplying a number by itself and then by itself again. Cube numbers can also be represented visually, too.

What does cubed mean in maths?

A cube number is a number that is the product of multiplying a number by itself and then by itself again. This is what we mean when we say a value has been cubed. Cube numbers can also be represented visually as diagrams of cubes, where the width, depth, and length each represent the cubed number.

How are cube numbers different from square numbers?

A square number is a number multiplied by itself once, whereas a cube number is one multiplied by itself before the process is repeated once more.

This might sound a little complicated, but don’t worry; it’s pretty simple. Let’s take a look in more detail:

When we multiply five by itself, we get 25. So, the square of 5 is 25. Finding the cube of 5 involves just one extra step. Once we’ve worked out the square, we need to multiply it by the original number again. In this case, the cube of 5 is 25 × 5 = 125. This can also be expressed as 5³ = 125.

More examples of cube numbers

As we’ve explained, a cube number is a result of multiplying a whole number three times. Here we have another example of this:

In the above image, we can see that 8 is an example of a cube number. It’s the result of 2 being multiplied by itself twice.

Cube numbers in real-life

While cube numbers are great for helping learners to understand number relationships and patterns, they have real-life applications, too. For instance, if we want to know the volume of a cubic object, such as a container, we need to cube the value of one of its sides.

By contrast, if a painter needs to know the large surface of an object and the volume of a thing already, they can work backward and find the cube root. By doing this, they’ll know how much paint they need.

What is a perfect cube number?

When we talk about a ‘perfect’ cube number, we mean a cube number created by multiplying a whole number, or integer, twice. The most common cube numbers children learn at KS2 will be ‘perfect.’ Here are the first four perfect cube numbers:

• 2 × 2 × 2 =8
• 3 × 3 × 3 =27
• 4 × 4 × 4 =64
• 5 × 5 × 5 =125

How do you cube a number?

In arithmetic, the cube of a number is its third power. To cube a number, the number is multiplied by itself twice = n × n × n. This can also be written like n³.

What is PEMDAS?

PEMDAS is an acronym for parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. Following PEMDAS allows us to solve multi-step problems by completing each operation in the correct order.

How does PEMDAS work?

Give me a P! Give me an E! Give me an M!… OK, you get the idea.

• P is for parentheses. When trying to solve a multi-operation problem, always calculate the sum of the parentheses first. So, make sure you solve whatever’s inside these guys (…) before you do anything else; otherwise, you’ll get the wrong answer. If your equation has no parentheses, move on to the next step.
• E is for exponents. Next up, you will solve the exponents known as powers and roots. For example, if your equation looks like 4 x 8² + 12, you should square 8 before doing anything else.
• M and D are for multiplication and division. In the PEMDAS system, these have equal ranks. With equations that feature more than one multiplication and division element, solve them in the order they appear, from left to right.
• A and S are for addition and subtraction. These should be the last calculations you perform. And just as above, you should complete your addition and subtraction calculations in order from left to right.

How do you remember PEMDAS?

Mnemonics are one of the most effective ways of helping children memorize PEMDAS. A mnemonic is a short, catchy saying in which every word starts with a letter from the acronym you’re trying to remember. The most commonly used PEMDAS mnemonic is, please excuse my dear Aunt Sally. Another of our favorites is penguins eat maple donuts after sunset. Why not try and write a PEMDAS mnemonic with your students?

How does PEMDAS benefit students?

PEMDAS allows children to simplify and break down complex equations into manageable chunks. It helps them tackle problems with multiple operations without feeling overwhelmed and lays the groundwork for middle school algebra learning.

What is atomic structure?

Atomic structure is an atom’s structure- one positively charged nucleus with negatively charged electrons circling it.

What are atoms made of?

Atoms are made of three particles

• Protons
• Neutrons
• Electrons

Protons and neutrons make up the Nucleus. At the same time, electrons circle around the nucleus.

What are Protons?

Protons are positively charged particles found inside the nucleus of an atom. They help identify the atom – different elements will have a different number of protons in the nucleus. They are equal to the atomic number of the atom and contribute to the atomic mass (found on the periodic table). They are also equal to the number of electrons that an atom has.

What are Neutrons?

Neutrons are also found in the nucleus of the atom. They have no charge and contribute to the atomic mass.

What are Electrons?

Electrons are negatively charged particles that circle the atom’s nucleus; They circle so fast that they create an electron cloud around the nucleus. However, the mass is insignificant, so they do not contribute to the atom’s atomic mass.

There is the same amount of electrons as protons in the nucleus.

What is the nucleus?

The nucleus is the nucleus of the atom and comprises protons and neutrons. This is the bundle of particles that the electrons circle.

Atomic structure of different elements

An atom’s number of protons and electrons will determine which element it is. For example, hydrogen is made of one positively charged proton and one negatively charged electron that circles the nucleus.

You can also find the atomic structure on the periodic table of elements.

How do I use the periodic table to determine the atomic structure of an element?

The atomic number at the top of each element tells us how many protons are in the nucleus. In addition, because atoms have the same number of electrons as protons, the atomic number can also tell us how many electrons an atom has.

The atomic mass is the number at the bottom of each element. Subtracting the atomic number from the atomic mass will give you the number of neutrons that are found in the nucleus

A butterfly is another example of an insect and a minibeast. They come in lots of different colors, shapes, and sizes, and you might even be able to spot some in your garden! Keep reading for some more fun butterfly facts for kids here.

What is a butterfly?

A butterfly is an insect, which means they have antennae, three body parts (the head, thorax, and abdomen), and six legs. This is true for all insects.

However, butterflies also have a few features that not all insects have – for example, they have wings too!

Top 10 Fun Butterfly Facts for Kids:

1. Adult butterflies attach their eggs to leaves with special glue.
2. Butterflies have four wings.
3. Butterflies have taste buds on their feet!
4. It is estimated that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 species of butterfly.
5. As butterflies are cold-blooded, they can’t fly or function properly if their body temperature falls below 13 degrees Celsius.
6. Butterflies only live for an average of a few weeks.
7. One of the largest butterflies is the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly, with a wingspan between 10cm and 18cm. The name comes from the swallowtail bird!
8. Butterflies’ wings help to protect them against predators, either by folding to help blend a butterfly into its surroundings or using the entire color spectrum to frighten predators away.
9. Butterfly wings are transparent! Even though they look very colorful, the wings are made of a see-through material called chitin and covered with thousands of tiny scales that reflect the colors we see.
10. Butterflies drink from mud puddles to get minerals and salt to complement the sugar they get from nectar.

What do butterflies eat?

Before a caterpillar has transformed into a butterfly, it will only eat leaves from certain plants because they need the correct vitamins to grow.

Once they have transformed into a butterfly, they will drink nectar from flowers too. They do this using their long tongues, called a proboscis, which means they can suck up all the nectar.

As well as this, butterflies will drink water and liquids from certain fruits, particularly those that are soft and rotting. However, they mostly live off liquids, as it would be difficult for butterflies to eat solid foods using their tongue!

What is the lifespan of a butterfly?

Have you ever asked yourself: ‘how long do butterflies live?’ You might be surprised by the answer because the lifespan of a butterfly is relatively short. The average butterfly usually only lives for around one month. However, some smaller butterflies only live for one week!

A Monarch butterfly survives much longer than other butterflies, with a lifespan of nine months. However, they never live for more than a year.

What is the life cycle of a butterfly?                                                          

A butterfly has a life cycle has four stages:

1. During the first stage of a butterfly’s life, a female butterfly lays eggs on a plant, where the new butterfly will start its new life. The egg is usually a round or oval shape and sometimes ribbed.
2. During the second stage, the egg hatches into a caterpillar known as larvae. This is the long, worm-like stage of the life cycle. Caterpillars have exciting patterns and stripes on their body and are usually covered in little hairs. To develop, caterpillars need to eat a lot and begin to eat the plant they were born onto. This will allow them to grow bigger, which allows the caterpillar to shed its skin four times before the next stage!
3. During the third stage, the caterpillar is now fully grown. It then forms a cocoon and becomes a chrysalis, allowing the caterpillar to hibernate during winter. This is where the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, as the caterpillar tissues are broken down, and the adult’s parts are formed. Again, it looks like the caterpillar is resting from the outside, but it changes quickly inside the chrysalis! You can learn more about a butterfly chrysalis below.
4. The chrysalis reveals a colorful adult butterfly during the fourth stage of a butterfly’s life. When the butterfly emerges, the wings are soft and folded into its body, but it eventually learns to fly correctly in around 3 or 4 hours.

The life cycle of a butterfly repeats once again after a butterfly has mated.

What is a butterfly chrysalis?

A chrysalis is the middle stage of a butterfly’s life cycle, between being a larva (caterpillar) and an adult butterfly.

Once a caterpillar has matured, it will turn into a pupa or chrysalis. The chrysalis is a hard shell that caterpillars form as an outer layer of protection while it turns into a butterfly.

Inside its chrysalis, a caterpillar begins its transformation into an adult butterfly. This is called metamorphosis. Many other animals, including fish, mollusks, and amphibians go through a metamorphosis; for example, a tadpole does this when it turns into a frog!

What happens inside a butterfly chrysalis?

A caterpillar spends most of its time eating; eventually, some changes begin to occur, and the caterpillar loses interest in feeding. Then, it knows it’s time to become an adult! So the caterpillar finds a sheltered safe spot where it transforms itself.

The caterpillar is born with the ability to make a substance called an enzyme. The enzyme is an essential key to unlocking the butterfly from the chrysalis. Unfortunately, during the first few days of living in the butterfly chrysalis, the caterpillar’s enzymes will eat the caterpillar itself!

Caterpillars are born with everything they need to become butterflies. Some develop over time, and others are visible, such as their wing buds. Many organs are hidden in the caterpillar and take a new form in the butterfly chrysalis. The new butterfly’s organs, wings, antennae, and legs all form inside the chrysalis!

The butterfly chrysalis loses nearly half of its weight. The complete transformation takes about two weeks. Some species survive the winter in the butterfly chrysalis, but it takes about two months. Then, a couple of days before the butterfly emerges, the chrysalis changes color, and the butterfly’s patterns can be seen through it.

The butterfly will use a liquid to soften the shell when it’s done forming. The action of a butterfly leaving its chrysalis is called ‘eclosion.’ Hormones start eclosion and activate the nervous system to move the new butterfly. Next, the butterfly will use the sharp claws on its legs and wings to pull apart the chrysalis from the inside.

What is a butterfly chrysalis made from?

A chrysalis is made of a hardened layer of skin that the caterpillar forms under its top layer. When the caterpillar is ready for metamorphosis, it will spin a little bit of silk and attach it to a tree or leaf. From there, it will latch onto the silk and wiggle its way out of its top layer of skin. Eventually, the chrysalis will be free of the caterpillar’s skin, and the hard shell will harden even more.

What is the difference between a chrysalis, cocoon, and pupa?

A chrysalis and a cocoon are both different types of the pupa. The pupa is the word for the stage of transformation, i.e., ‘the butterfly is in the pupa.’

The difference between a cocoon and a chrysalis is the type of bug hatched from it. So a cocoon turns into a moth, while a chrysalis turns into a butterfly.

Do all caterpillars turn into butterflies?

Not all caterpillars will turn into butterflies, but they all go through metamorphosis! Some of them turn into moths instead. A caterpillar will either turn into a butterfly or a moth during its pupal stage, depending on the caterpillar species.

A few types of caterpillars that turn into butterflies are:

• The Monarch butterfly caterpillar
• Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar
• Zebra Longwing butterfly caterpillar

Some examples of caterpillars that turn into moths are:

• Hickory Horned Devil – Regal Moth
• Puss Caterpillar – Southern Flannel Moths
• Saddleback Caterpillar Moth

How do butterflies get their colors?                                                               

Butterflies have two types of color: pigmented color and structural color.

The pigmented color is caused by chemicals that absorb particular light and reflect others. For example, if the red and blue light are absorbed and the green light is reflected, the butterfly will appear green to your eyes.

The structural color is caused by the structure of the butterfly’s wings. When the light passes through the layers of the butterfly, the colors reflect and become more intense. This means that not all their colors come from their pigment; it is from how people see them! The specific structure of a butterfly’s wings implies that sometimes the color of a butterfly appears to change and shift. When the color of something changes as the observer moves, it is called iridescence.

The butterflies’ colors are so vibrant they can attract mates, act as warning signals for predators hunting them, and can also be used for camouflage to protect themselves. There are also often ultraviolet patterns on butterflies’ wings, which are invisible to humans but may be seen by other butterflies and used to distinguish mates!

Butterfly Camouflage and Disguise

Butterflies and their larva are an essential part of the food chain, and to ensure they survive, they must camouflage and protect themselves. Some species of butterfly hide under leaves, so they’re out of sight. However, most other species use clever butterfly camouflage and disguise techniques.

Camouflage is when a butterfly uses color, pattern, and texture to blend against a natural background, such as soil and tree trunks. A disguise is when a butterfly has a similar appearance to another natural object, like a leaf or a flower.

Some butterflies also have markings that look like eyes on their wings; this will often startle their enemies or scare them off from attacking. Other species of butterfly use camouflage very cleverly, so they can’t be seen at all by predators! A leaf butterfly, for example, uses camouflage to resemble a dead leaf. In contrast, other colorful butterflies trick enemies into thinking they’re poisonous or don’t taste very pleasant due to their vivid colors.

Is a butterfly an invertebrate?

Vertebrates have a backbone or bony skeleton, whereas invertebrates do not. For example, butterflies are invertebrates, so they don’t have a backbone. About 96% of species are invertebrates, and there are 1.25 million invertebrates worldwide!

All insects are invertebrates. Other examples of invertebrates are slugs, bees, beetles, flies, and dragonflies.

Instead of a backbone, butterflies have an exoskeleton, meaning their skeleton is outside their body. This is like having skin made of bones! A butterfly exoskeleton is made of chitin, and its thickness varies depending on how vulnerable the organs beneath it are. As the body of a butterfly is so tiny, having an exoskeleton is very important for them to survive. A larger animal could easily crush the butterfly’s body if not protected with a hard shell.

Butterflies Found in the UK:

There are many different types of butterflies worldwide: between 15,000 to 20,000 different species! Here are some different butterflies types for you to learn about.

• Common blue butterflies are the most widespread blue butterflies in the UK. Males of this species are blue, and females have a range of colors from almost entirely brown to mainly blue. They have orange dots on the underside of their wings.
• Brimstone butterflies have either yellow wings if they are male or pale-green wings if they are female. These butterflies have spread in northern England in recent years.
• Large white butterflies have white wings with black tips. Females also have two spots on the upper side of each wing. They are commonly found throughout Britain.
• Small white butterflies are big fans of cabbages! Similar to the large white but with smaller wings, these butterflies have white wings with one or two wing spots.
• Meadow brown butterflies are brown with an outer orange circle and inner black circle on each wing and are widespread throughout Britain.
• Small tortoiseshell butterflies in the UK have bright blue markings on the edge of their wings, which are bright orange and black. Vibrant and multi-colored, these butterflies are commonly found in gardens.
• Gatekeeper butterflies are often seen with brown meadow butterflies but are more orange with brown around their wings.
• Ringlet butterflies are brown with rings on their wings and have spread across England and Scotland in recent years. They almost look ‘velvety.’

Threatened Butterfly Species: Marsh Fritillary Butterfly

Some threatened butterfly species, such as the marsh fritillary butterfly, have declined in numbers due to the loss of their habitat. The marsh fritillary butterfly is threatened in the UK and across Europe too. Lots of efforts are being made to protect this butterfly species. The conservation efforts include restoring land perfect for marsh fritillary butterflies to live in.

Marsh fritillary butterflies are bright and beautifully patterned with colorful wings. The marsh fritillary butterflies that live in Scotland and Ireland have more markings on their wings.

Their primary food is a plant called ‘Devil’s-bit-scabious,’ which is a lilac-blue flower with a rounded head. Marsh fritillary butterflies can be seen between mid-May and mid-July.

What are inverse operations?

Inverse operations are opposite operations. They are the operation that reverses the effect of another operation.

For example, addition is the inverse operation of subtraction, and multiplication is the inverse operation of division.

Examples

Addition and Subtraction

15 – 6 = 9

As a student, a teacher could figure out what they could add to 6 to get the answer 15.

This changes the sum from subtraction to addition to find the answer.

6 + 9 = 15

Multiplication and Division

12÷ 3 = 4

In Year 2, students begin to recognize that the inverse of division is multiplication and that this sum can also be solved by expressing it as

4 x 3 = 12.

Eighth Note

The eighth note is the name in North American music terminology for a quaver. An eighth note lasts for half a beat, meaning it has the rhythmic value of half a quarter note.

How many beats is an eighth note worth?

The duration of an eighth note is half a beat. This means that there are:

• Eight eighth notes in a whole note (this is where the eighth note gets its name!);
• Four eighth notes in a half note;
• Two eighth notes in a quarter note.

Half of an eighth note is a sixteenth note – known as a semiquaver outside of North America.

You can help children to remember and understand the rhythm of eighth notes using words that can be split – with one syllable on each eighth note. For example, ‘jel-lo’:

How is an eighth note written?

In written music notation, eighth notes are indicated with a solid black note head, a stem, and a single tail. When two or more eighth notes appear together, they may be ‘beamed,’ depending on the rhythm.

How are eighth notes counted?

In a simple 4/4 rhythm, it helps to count eighth notes with ‘and’ like in the example below:

The ‘and’ falls between each of the four beats in the bar, helping you to count where the eighth notes fall. As there are two eighth notes in a quarter note, counting like this enables you to fit them evenly into the rhythm. The dominant ‘1 2 3 4’ is maintained, but there’s a cue for the notes in between.

Try clapping a steady ‘1 2 3 4’. Count the numbers aloud on the claps but say ‘and’ in between claps. This is how eighth notes fall in a 4/4 rhythm.

Eighth notes often appear in dotted rhythms. The dot adds half the value of the note it appears by to the value of that note. So, for example, where a quarter note is dotted (meaning that it is now worth one and a half beats), an eighth note can be used to complete the other half of the half beat. See how this looks in a 4/4/ rhythm in the picture below:

In this example, the dot means that the quarter note is still being held on the fourth beat – but only for half of that beat. Finally, the eighth note completes it, making a full beat.

What does an eighth note rest look like?

The eighth note rest is similar to the eighth note itself as it has a single tail – whereas the sixteenth note rest has two tails.

An eighth note rest is worth half a beat – just like the eighth note.

A play or drama script is a story written for actors to perform, with the term ‘play’ relating to a theatrical performance.

People who write them are called Playwrights; sometimes, the physical scripts might be called manuscripts, while some historical scripts are called folios due to their format.

They are essential, so everyone involved in a theatre production can learn the story and do their role in sync, both onstage and behind the scenes.

Children will learn about them during drama lessons at the primary level and study drama in more depth at secondary school. Plays produced specifically for schools are generally called Theatre in Education.

Play scripts can be written in all genres, including:

• comedy
• drama
• tragedy
• thriller
• romance
• musical
• political
• physical

They are written differently than stories and novels, focusing more on dialogue and stage direction so that actors know how to make the characters behave on stage. In addition, each production can interpret play scripts, making changes to highlight its chosen themes.

Features of play scripts

Character list

Like TV shows and movies, a play usually features a variety of characters interacting with each other throughout the scenes. Because of this, most scripts begin with a character list that introduces all the different characters.

Some scripts feature a description of these characters next to their name so that the actors know a bit about them before they play them on stage and for casting the roles.

Once plays have been cast, some scripts will include the actor’s name alongside their character.

Acts, Scenes, and Settings

Play scripts are split into different acts.

These are sections of the play that detail different parts of the story.

For example, Act One may contain introductions of the plot and characters, Act Two might set up a problem for the characters to overcome, and Act Three might feature the performance’s climax.

While there is no limit to the number of acts in a play, most scripts use either a three-act or five-act structure. Some plays only use one act. All these variations have certain conventions for how the plot unfolds during each act.

Within these acts are different scenes. These are like book chapters that split up the action. A new scene usually means a new setting, where the scene takes place, or sometimes when time has passed in the exact location.

When a new scene begins, the playwright will usually write a setting description to help actors imagine their environment so that the technical and creative team can interpret the setting through direction, costume, scenery, and special effects design.

Dialogue

The words spoken by characters in drama scripts are known as dialogue.

Whereas these are written inside speech marks in books, in scripts, they are written after the character’s name and separated by a colon. This makes it easier for actors to follow the lines they must say when performing the script.

Stage Directions

Stage directions tell actors what to do or how to act while reading a particular piece of dialogue. These can be instructions on how to walk, speak or stand or just suggestions on mood.

These are included in the dialogue using brackets. They can relate to any character, not just the one speaking.

Stage directions are not said aloud during a performance, although they often are during a rehearsal reading. They are always written in the present tense.

Narrators

Some scripts include a character called a narrator. These characters explain what is going on in the story for the audience’s benefit.

They do not have to be a character in the story who interacts with the other characters, but their lines are written similarly. Productions aimed at a family audience often use a narrator to help interpret events, as in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat or Blood Brothers.

How to write a play script?

Teach your children to write a script for the drama and perform and produce a show with our helpful resources.

A helpful tip to remember when writing a play script is “show, don’t tell.” This means it’s better to show something rather than write lots of dialogue to explain it. An excellent example would be if someone is scared, have their hands shake to express this visually.

A trapezoid (also known as a trapezium) is a flat 2D shape with four straight sides. It has one pair of parallel sides, usually the top and bottom sides. The parallel sides are called the bases, while the non-parallel sides are called the legs.

Some say that the trapezoid has only one pair of parallel sides, meaning they could not be parallelograms. This is known as the exclusive definition.

Others believe, and this is the more popular opinion, that trapezoids have at least one pair of parallel sides to be a particular type of parallelogram. This is known as the inclusive definition, which has also been supported in the higher, especially the ‘taxonomy of quadrilaterals’ (an ordered group category of quadrilaterals, or four-sided shapes).

Different cultures define the shape differently.

The parallel sides may be vertical, horizontal, or slanting and are known as bases, and the non-parallel sides are known as legs. The distance from one base to another is known as the altitude.

A trapezoid can also be known as a trapezium, mainly outside the US and Canada.

Is a trapezium the same as a trapezoid?

There is still debate about this. In the US and Canada, a quadrilateral shape with at least one pair of parallel sides is known as a trapezoid. This is what is called a trapezium outside those countries.

However, some suggest that in the US and Canada, a trapezoid has one pair of parallel sides, and a trapezium has no parallel sides. They also say that the UK has this reversed; a trapezoid has no parallel sides, and a trapezium has one pair of parallel sides.

So the definitions are still debated.

Types of trapezoids

There are three main types of trapezoids:

1. Right trapezoid – these trapezoids have a pair of right angles.
2. Isosceles trapezoid – trapezoids in which the non-parallel sides have the same length.
3. Scalene trapezoid – this type of trapezoid has four sides of an unequal length.

How do you work out the area of a trapezoid?

To work out the area of a trapezoid, add the two parallel sides together, divide by 2, then times that by its height.

For example, if a trapezoid has two bases, one 4cm, one 18m, and the height is 7cm:

We can work this out:

How do you work out the perimeter of a trapezoid?

Working out the perimeter of a trapezoid shape is easy; add all the different side lengths together.

What are the properties of a trapezoid?

A trapezoid can be a square if all the sides are equal in length and at right angles.

It can be a rectangle if its opposite sides are equal in length and at right angles. So, all rectangles are trapezoids, but not all trapezoids are rectangles.

It’s a parallelogram if both pairs of opposite sides are parallel.

What type of angles does a trapezoid have?

Trapezoids may not have any right angles, or they could have two of them.

Most have acute angles, which are less than 90 degrees. Also, not all angles need to be equal. For example, an isosceles trapezoid has two pairs of equal angles at each end of the shape.

All angles will always add to 360 degrees.

Fun Facts about the trapezoid

• You can find real-life examples of trapezoids in bridges, handbags, and even the cinema popcorn box.
• Known as ‘trapezion’ in ancient Greek, which translated means “little table.” “Oid” another term from old Greek, means “resembling.”
• The word for trapezium was first used in the English language in 1570. However, the first use was in the book Euclid’s Elements by Marinus Proclus.

Latitude Lines

What are latitude lines? How are they measured, and where can I find them on the globe?

What is latitude?

Latitude lines are geographic coordinates used to distinguish the north and south sides of the Earth. Lines of constant latitude, also called parallels, run from east to west in circles parallel to the equator. They go perpendicular to the lines of longitude, which run from the north to the south.

What is the Equator?

The equator is the latitude line that runs east to west along the globe’s middle. It runs along the Earth’s rotational axis and represents the part of the earth closest to the sun. Each of the latitude lines that run parallel to the equator is measured with the equator.

The equator is found at 0 degrees latitude. Therefore, each of the latitude lines above, or north, of the equator is measured in positive degrees. Each of the latitude lines below the equator is measured in negative degrees, with the furthest being the poles.

What are the poles?

The poles are the furthest distance from the equator that you can be. They are found at -90 degrees south and 90 degrees north, where all Longitude lines (LINK) intersect.

Other significant latitude lines:

• The Arctic circle
• The tropic of Cancer
• The tropics of Capricorn
• The Antarctic Circle

What is the tropic of cancer?

The tropic of cancer is the halfway point between the equator and the north pole.

What is the Tropic of Capricorn?

The halfway point between the equator and the south pole.

What is the Arctic Circle?

The arctic circle is the northernmost point on the earth. The arctic pole is in the middle of the arctic circle- where all the longitude lines intersect at one point.

What is the Antarctic Circle?

The Antarctic Circle is the southernmost part of the earth. The middle of the antarctic circle is on the exact opposite side of the Earth as the arctic pole.